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.

Objective: Cancer stem cells (CSCs) belong to a subpopulation of undifferentiated cells present within tumors that have the potential to regenerate, differentiate, maintenance of pluripotency, drug resistance, and tumorigenicity when transplanted into an innate host. These can influence the growth and behavior of these tumors and are used to investigate the initiation, progression, and treatment strategies of laryngeal cancer. Research on CSC science and targeted therapies were hinge on their isolation and/or enrichment procedures. The object of the study is to isolate cancer stem cells from primary laryngeal carcinoma (CSCPLC) by tumor spheres enrichment. We checked the properties of self-renewal, stemness, clonogenicity, and chemotherapeutic resistance. Materials and Methods: We performed tumor sphere formation assay (primary, secondary, and tertiary) chemotherapy resistance by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay were performed to evaluate the CSC cells. Immunofluorescence for stem cell markers (CD133+, CD44+) and gene expression of stem cell markers for CD133+, CD44+, OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG was done using the real-time polymerase chain reaction technique. Results: We were able to isolated CSC subpopulations from PLC cell lines by the tumor sphere method. These cells exhibited good primary, secondary, and tertiary tumor sphere formation efficiency and also disclosed a resistant index of more than 2. Immunofluorescence for stem cell markers (CD133+ and CD44+) confirms the presence of CSC. There was significantly higher mRNA expression of stem cell markers in CSC enriched subpopulations compared to the parental cell lines. Conclusion: We conclude that tumor spheres enrichment is an efficient, economical, and reliable approach for the isolation and characterization of CSC from PLC cell lines. These cells demonstrated the properties of self-renewal, stemness, clonogenicity, and chemotherapeutic resistance.

Background: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is involved in the etiology of localized aggressive periodontitis (LAP), a condition that frequently requires supplemental antibiotic therapy. Information on antimicrobial susceptibility pattern and guidelines for oral antibiotic therapy are not available on Indian patients. Aim: The main aim of the present study was to screen clinical isolates on a panel of antibiotics commonly used for oral/systemic therapy. Materials and Methods: The study included 40 strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans isolated from patients with LAP. The subgingival plaque was plated onto Trypticase Soy Serum Bacitracin Vancomycin Agar medium and incubated for 72 h, and suspected colonies were confirmed by phenotypic tests. Each isolate was tested against a panel of 12 antibiotics using MIC gradient strip test. ATCC strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype A and C were used as standards. Performance and interpretation of the test were done according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Distribution of MICs among isolates (n = 40) were used to calculate concentrations inhibiting 50% (MIC₅₀) and 90% (MIC₉₀) of strains. Results: Moxifloxacin, cefotaxime and ceftriaxone showed excellent activity with 100% growth inhibition followed by amoxicillin, amoxiclav and doxycycline (>90% activity). The bacterial strains were moderately susceptible to cefuroxime, cefazolin and tetracycline but displayed poor susceptibility to clindamycin and azithromycin. All isolates were resistant to metronidazole. Conclusion: The isolates of A. actinomycetemcomitans displayed a high level of resistance to azithromycin and clindamycin. Development of resistance against tetracycline also appears to be significant. Variable resistance among the different members of the cephalosporin group is a factor to be investigated further since susceptibility profile against these antibiotics and interpretative criteria for oral bacteria are not available.

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.