The Anti-biofilm Activity of Nanometric Zinc doped Bioactive Glass against Putative Periodontal Pathogens: An in vitro Study

Abstract

Abstract Colonization of periodontal pathogens on the surgical sites is one of the primary reasons for the failure of regenerative periodontal therapies. Bioactive glasses (BGs) owing to their favorable structural and antimicrobial properties have been proposed as promising materials for the reconstruction of periodontal and peri-implant bone defects. This study aimed to investigate the antibiofilm activity of zinc-doped BG (Zn/BG) compared with 45S5 Bioglass® (BG®) on putative periodontal pathogens. In this in vitro experimental study, the nano BG doped with 5-mol% zinc and BG® were synthesized by sol-gel method. Mono-species biofilms of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. a), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. g), and Prevotella intermedia (P. i)were prepared separately in a well-containing microplate. After 48 hours of exposure to generated materials at 37°C, the anti-biofilm potential of the samples was studied by measuring the optical density (OD) at 570nm wavelengths with a microplate reader. Two-way ANOVA then analyzed the results. Both Zn/BG and BG® significantly reduced the biofilm formation ability of all examined strains after 48 hours of incubation (P=0.0001). Moreover, the anti-biofilm activity of Zn/BG was significantly stronger than BG® (P=0.0001), which resulted in the formation of a weak biofilm (OD<1) compared with a moderately adhered biofilm observed with BG® (1<OD<2). Zn/BG showed a significant inhibitory effect on the biofilm formation of all examined periodontal pathogens. Given the enhanced regenerative and anti-biofilm properties of this novel biomaterial, further investigations are required for its implementation in clinical situations.