Smart/responsive coating for peri-implantitis treatment: Unraveling the molecular and cellular mechanisms on collagen fiber behavior

• Grant number: 25/08591-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: July 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Érica Dorigatti de Avila
• Grantee: Mariana Martins Guerreiro
• Supervisor: Anton Sculean
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FOA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bern, Switzerland
• Associated to the scholarship: 24/14871-8 - Smart/Stimuli-Responsive Antimicrobial System for Soft Tissue Integration. Antibacterial coating validation in animal model, BP.MS

Abstract

Peri-implantitis has rapidly burgeoning a public health problem, especially due to its high prevalence, linked to the unpredictability of available methods to contain the progression of this inflammatory condition. Given the drastic consequences of peri-implantitis, not only related to implant loss, but also due to its still unknown association with systemic diseases, complementary strategies to routine clinical procedures are required in an attempt to combat the infectious-inflammatory process. The feasibility of the approaches proposed in this project is based on previous studies in which our research group confirmed the success of the drug delivery method with the incorporation of the tetracycline (TC) and anionic beta-cyclodextrin (¿CD) complex on functional multilayers (LbL) enhanced by the construction of a pH-responsive film based on polymethylmethacrylate (PMAA) on the system. The methodology established for this study confirmed the antimicrobial capacity of the LbL/TC¿CD/PMAA system for a period corresponding to that regulated for prescribing systemic antibiotics to patients with peri-implantitis. Concomitantly, histological analyses were conclusive in ensuring the similarity of the connective tissue response on LbL/TC¿CD/PMAA system compared to than on Ti. Importantly, the presence of more and better organized collagen fibers in connective tissue near coated discs compared to uncoated titanium suggests that the coating may promote a more favorable tissue environment, leading to enhanced tissue integration and collagen synthesis. This implies that the coating helps the body respond to the implant with a healthier, more mature connective tissue structure. The high density of collagen fibers is related to changes in the peri-implant tissue phenotype, which can be clinically translated by increased soft tissue thickness. Although the impact of peri-implant phenotypes as risk parameter for peri-implantitis remains a subject of ongoing controversy, it cannot be ignored that changes in soft tissue can even indirectly contribute to favoring the onset of the disease and the progression of the inflammatory process in risk factor patients. The results obtained previously provided valuable insights into the potential of the coating not only for combating infection, but also for the remodeling stage with the possibility of stimulating the thickness of the connective tissue and consequently increasing the resistance of soft tissue to infectious-inflammatory processes. Here, we propose to investigate whether collagen fibers maturation is related to the increased gene expression of: collagen I (COL1A1), elastin (ELN) and collagen IV (COL4A1) and fibronectin markers in human gingival cultured within 3D collagen matrices.