Effect of Osteogenic Metabolic Differentiation of Silver Nanoparticles-based Periodontal Ligament Fibroblasts on Orthodontic Tooth Movement.

UNLABELLED

It was to clarify the effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on biological functions of human periodontal ligament fibroblasts (hPDLFs).

METHODS

AgNPs were synthesized using a tannic acid reduction method and characterized accordingly. Fifteen Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to Normal group, Group A (orthodontic tooth movement after alveolar bone defect repair with a blood clot), and Group B (orthodontic tooth movement after alveolar bone defect repair with AgNPs), with five rats in each group. Morphological changes in periodontal tissues were visualized. hPDLFs were treated with 0 μM (Ctrl), 25 μM (L-AgNPs), 50 μM (M-AgNPs), and 100 μM (H-AgNPs) AgNPs to assess cell proliferation via the MTT assay, calcification via alizarin red staining, and osteogenic differentiation and genes/proteins' expression associated with the I3K/Akt signaling pathway through quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot.

RESULTS

AgNP diameter was approximately 20 nm. Relative to the normal group, both Group A and Group B exhibited increased widths of the periodontal ligament (PDL) while displaying a decrease in cell counts within the PDL (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the L-AgNPs, M-AgNPs, and H-AgNPs groups exhibited a notable elevation in the number of calcified nodules in hPDLFs, along with elevated alkaline phosphatase, Runx2, osteocalcin, osterix, type I collagen, phosphorylated phosphoinositide 3-kinase, and phosphorylated protein kinase B versus Ctrl (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

AgNPs are beneficial in enhancing the biological functions of the PDL, promoting the repair and regeneration of periodontal tissues, indicating their potential clinical value in orthodontic treatments.