Background: This study examines the efficacy of azithromycin in combination with non‐surgical periodontal therapy on clinical and microbiologic parameters and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) matrix metalloproteinases‐8 (MMP‐8) levels over 6 months in patients with severe generalized chronic periodontitis (CP).Methods: Twenty‐eight of 36 patients with severe generalized CP were included in this randomized, double‐masked, placebo‐controlled, parallel‐arm study. They were randomly assigned to azithromycin or placebo groups (500 mg, once daily for 3 days). Probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level, dichotomous presence or absence of supragingival plaque accumulation, and bleeding on probing were recorded. GCF samples were obtained from one single‐rooted tooth with PD ≥ 6 mm, whereas microbiologic samples were collected from two single‐rooted teeth with PD ≥ 6 mm. Microbiologic parameters were analyzed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction for Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Prevotella intermedia, and total bacteria. GCF MMP‐8 levels were determined by immunofluorescence assay.Results: Azithromycin and placebo groups demonstrated similar but significant improvements in all clinical parameters (P <0.05). A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, P. intermedia, and total bacteria significantly decreased over the 6‐month period in both groups, whereas F. nucleatum was significantly reduced in all visits in the azithromycin group, with the levels also being lower compared with those of the placebo group (P <0.05). The azithromycin and placebo groups exhibited significant reduction in GCF MMP‐8 levels at the post‐treatment visit and at 2 weeks (P <0.05).Conclusion: On the basis of the present findings, it can be concluded that adjunctive azithromycin provides no additional benefit over non‐surgical periodontal treatment on parameters investigated in patients with severe generalized CP.

Aims This study aimed to develop an efficient, cost‐effective and eco‐friendly bacterial consortium to degrade petroleum sludge. Methods and Results Four bacterial strains belonging to genera Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas were selected to constitute three different consortia based on their initial concentration. The highest degradation rate (78%) of 1% (v/v) crude oil after 4 weeks of incubation was recorded when the concentration of biosurfactant (BS) producing isolate was high. Genes, such as alkB, almA, cyp153, pah‐rhdGN, nah, phnAC and cat23 were detected using the polymerase chain reaction method and their induction levels were optimal at pH 7·0. A crude oil sludge was artificially constituted, and its bacterial composition was investigated using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The results showed that the soil bacterial community was dominated by plant growth‐promoting bacteria (PGPB) after crude oil treatment. Conclusions Our findings indicate the decontamination of the crude oil contaminated soil was more effective in the presence of both the constituted consortium and PGPB compared to the presence of PGPB alone. Significance and Impact of the Study This study showed that the PGPB (Taibaiella) present in petroleum uncontaminated soil can promote the soil decontamination. The addition of both efficient hydrocarbon‐degrading and BS producing bacteria is also necessary to improve the decontamination.

This study investigated the C. albicans adhesion to cold- and heat-polymerized soft lining materials that were initially incubated in two different artificial body fluids, namely saliva and nasal secretion, and examined the surface roughness the materials (cold and heat polymerized soft liner) tested in vitro. Cold (Visco Gel) and heat-polymerized (Molloplast B) soft liner specimens (N=32, n=8 per group) (10×10×1.5 mm) were randomly produced to express the relationship between surface roughness and contamination, and influence of body fluids, and incubated in 1.5 ml contaminated solutions for 2 h. After fixation, all of materials were evaluated under optical microscope (×400) and SEM. Surface roughness measurements were examined with profilometre for each material. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD and Dunnett T3 tests (α=0.05). Material type (p<0.05) and contamination media (p<0.05) showed a significant influence on the C. albicans adherence. The surface roughness of cold polymerized soft liner (Visco Gel) was significantly higher than heat-polymerized soft liner (Molloplast B) (p<0.05).