Oral cancer has a high mortality rate, which is mostly determined by the stage of the disease at the time of admission. Around half of all patients with oral cancer report with advanced illness. Hitherto, chemotherapy is preferred to treat oral cancer, but the emergence of resistance to anti-cancer drugs is likely to occur after a sequence of treatments. Curcumin is renowned for its anticancer potential but its marred water solubility and poor bioavailability limit its use in treating multidrug-resistant cancers. As part of this investigation, we prepared and characterized Curcumin nanomicelles (CUR-NMs) using DSPE-PEG-2000 and evaluated the anticancer properties of cisplatin-resistant cancer cell lines. The prepared CUR-NMs were sphere-shaped and unilamellar in structure, with a size of 32.60 ± 4.2 nm. CUR-NMs exhibited high entrapment efficiency (82.2%), entrapment content (147.96 µg/mL), and a mean zeta potential of −17.5ζ which is considered moderately stable. The cellular uptake and cytotoxicity studies revealed that CUR-NMs had significantly higher cytotoxicity and cellular uptake in cisplatin drug-resistant oral cancer cell lines and parental oral cancer cells compared to plain curcumin (CUR). The DAPI and FACS analysis corroborated a high percentage of apoptotic cells with CUR-NMs (31.14%) compared to neat CUR (19.72%) treatment. Conclusively, CUR-NMs can potentially be used as an alternative carrier system to improve the therapeutic effects of curcumin in the treatment of cisplatin-resistant human oral cancer.

Porphyromonas gingivalis is regarded as a “keystone pathogen” in periodontitis. The fimbria assists in the initial attachment, biofilm organization, and bacterial adhesion leading to the invasion and colonization of host epithelial cells. The present study aimed to investigate the occurrence of fimA genotypes in patients with chronic periodontitis and healthy individuals in the Indian population, and to study their association with the number of P. gingivalis cells obtained in subgingival plaque samples of these subjects. The study comprised 95 samples from the chronic periodontitis (CP) group and 35 samples from the healthy (H) group, which were detected positive for P. gingivalis in our previous study. Fimbrial genotyping was done by PCR and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The fimA type II was more prevalent in the CP group (55.89%), followed by type IV (30.52%), whereas in the H group, type I was the most prevalent fimbria (51.42%). The quantity of P. gingivalis cells increased with the presence of fimA types II and III. Our results suggest a strong relationship between fimA types II and IV and periodontitis, and between type I and the healthy condition. The colonization of organisms was increased with the occurrence of type II in deep periodontal sites, which could play an important role in the progression of the disease.

The periodontal disease etiology has been a demesne of scrupulous research, with a myriad of bacterial phylotypes inhabiting the periodontal pockets. The aim of our study was to assess the frequency of Filifactor alocis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) subjects having a healthy periodontium (DH) or chronic periodontitis (DCP) and its correlation with clinical parameters and red complex bacteria. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out for the detection of F. alocis and red complex bacteria from subgingival plaque samples. The data were analyzed using Fisher’s Exact Test and Pearson’s chi-square test. A p value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. F. alocis was detected at considerably higher levels in DCP (p < 0.05). F. alocis presence was also positively correlated with T. forsythia detection and the clinical parameters PD and CAL (p < 0.05). Subjects with good glycemic control showed a considerably lower detection of F. alocis as compared to fair- and poor-glycemic-control subjects. This is the first paper reporting the co-occurrence of F. alocis and T. forsythia in diabetic subjects with chronic periodontitis. These findings show that F. alocis can play an important role in establishing synergistic collaborations with other pathogenic oral microorganisms and speeding up the course of periodontal disease in diabetics.