An osteoporosis bone defect regeneration strategy via three-dimension short fibers loaded with alendronate modified hydroxyapatite

Osteoporotic bone defect has become clinic challenge due to its morbid bone microenvironment. Overactive bone resorption and limited bone formation lead to unstable combination between bone tissue and scaffolds. Electrospinning has been widely used in guide tissue membrane, but its barrier property results in limited application. In order to optimize the structure and add anti-bone resorption function of electrospinning fibers, we exploited the application of short fibers generated by homogenization at osteoporotic tibial bone defect. The modified nano-hydroxyapatite (m-HA) was loaded with alendronate. It overcame the problem that hydrophilic drugs were difficult to distribute uniformly in hydrophobic fibers. We confirmed that m-HA was loaded into polycaprolactone (PCL) short fibers. PCL short fibers with m-HA (PCL/m-HA) continuously released ALN, provided stable structure and showed good cytocompatibility. In vitro, PCL/m-HA increased the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), promoted extracellular matrix mineralization and upregulated the expression of osteogenesis-related genes, Col 1, Alp, osteopontin (Opn) and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2). In vivo, PCL/m-HA short fibers accelerated the new bone formation, inhibited the bone resorption and rebalanced the bone microenvironment through regulating osteoprotegerin (OPG) /receptor activator of NF-kB (RANKL) ratio. The above results confirmed that the PCL/m-HA short fibers achieved the application of three-dimension osteoporotic bone defect and had potential prospects in bone tissue scaffolds.

Shortening of electrospun PLLA fibers by ultrasonication

This research work is aimed at studying the effect of ultrasounds on the effectiveness of fiber fragmentation by taking into account the type of sonication medium, processing time, and various PLLA molecular weights. Fragmentation was followed by an appropriate filtration in order to decrease fibers length distribution. It was evidenced by fiber length determination using SEM that the fibers are shortened after ultrasonic treatment, and the effectiveness of shortening depends on the two out of three investigated parameters, mostly on the sonication medium, and processing time. The gel permeation chromatography (GPC) confirmed that such ultrasonic treatment does not change the polymers' molecular weight. Our results allowed to optimize the ultrasonic fragmentation procedure of electrospun fibers while preliminary viscosity measurements of fibers loaded into hydrogel confirmed their potential in further use as fillers for injectable hydrogels for regenerative medicine applications.

Optimization of large MOD restorations: Composite resin inlays vs. short fiber-reinforced direct restorations

OBJECTIVE

To compare mechanical performance and enamel-crack propensity of direct, semi-direct, and CAD/CAM approaches for large MOD composite-resin restorations.

METHODS

45 extracted maxillary molars underwent standardized slot-type preparation (5-mm depth and bucco-palatal width) including immediate dentin sealing (Optibond FL) for the inlays (30 teeth). Short-fiber reinforced composite-resin (EverX Posterior covered by Gradia Direct Posterior) was used for the direct approach, Gradia Direct Posterior for the semi-direct, and Cerasmart composite resin blocks for CAD/CAM inlays. All inlays were adhesively luted with light-curing composite-resin (preheated Gradia Direct Posterior). Shrinkage-induced enamel cracks were tracked by transillumination photography. Cyclic axial isometric chewing (5-Hz) was simulated, starting with a load of 200N (5000 cycles), followed by stages of 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1200, and 1400N (maximum 30,000 cycles each) until fracture or to a maximum of 185,000 cycles. Survived specimens were subjected to cyclic-load-to-failure test at 30-degree angle on the palatal cusp.

RESULTS

Only small shrinkage-induced cracks were found in 47% of the direct restorations compared to 7% and 13% of semi-direct and CAD/CAM inlays, respectively. Survival to accelerated fatigue was similar for all three groups (Kaplan-Meier p>.05) and ranged between 87% (direct) and 93% (semi-direct and CAD/CAM). Cyclic-load-to-failure tests did not yield significant differences either (Life Table analysis, p>.05) with median values of 1675N for CAD/CAM inlays, 1775N for fiber-reinforced direct restorations and 1900N for semi-direct inlays.

SIGNIFICANCE

All three restorative techniques yielded excellent mechanical performance above physiological masticatory loads. Direct restorations performed as good as inlays when a short-fiber reinforced composite-resin base was used.

Multilevel composition fractionation process for high-value utilization of wheat straw cellulose

BACKGROUND

Biomass refining into multiple products has gained considerable momentum due to its potential benefits for economic and environmental sustainability. However, the recalcitrance of biomass is a major challenge in bio-based product production. Multilevel composition fractionation processes should be beneficial in overcoming biomass recalcitrance and achieving effective conversion of multiple compositions of biomass. The present study concerns the fractionation of wheat straw using steam explosion, coupled with ethanol extraction, and that this facilitates the establishment of sugars and lignin platform and enables the production of regenerated cellulose films.

RESULTS

The results showed that the hemicellulose fractionation yield was 73% under steam explosion at 1.6 MPa for 5.2 minutes, while the lignin fractionation yield was 90% by ethanol extraction at 160°C for 2 hours and with 60% ethanol (v/v). The cellulose yield reached up to 93% after steam explosion coupled with ethanol extraction. Therefore, cellulose sugar, hemicellulose sugar, and lignin platform were established effectively in the present study. Long fibers (retained by a 40-mesh screening) accounted for 90% of the total cellulose fibers, and the glucan conversion of short fibers was 90% at 9.0 hours with a cellulase loading of 25 filter paper units/g cellulose in enzymatic hydrolysis. Regenerated cellulose film was prepared from long fibers using [bmim]Cl, and the tensile strength and breaking elongation was 120 MPa and 4.8%, respectively. The cross-section of regenerated cellulose film prepared by [bmim]Cl displayed homogeneous structure, which indicated a dense architecture and a better mechanical performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Multilevel composition fractionation process using steam explosion followed by ethanol extraction was shown to be an effective process by which wheat straw could be fractionated into different polymeric fractions with high yields. High-value utilization of wheat straw cellulose was achieved by preparing regenerated cellulose film using [bmim]Cl.