Novel cinnamon-laden nanofibers as a potential antifungal coating for poly(methyl methacrylate) denture base materials

• Published in: Clinical oral investigations Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 3697 - 3706
• Main Authors: Ribeiro, Juliana Silva, Bordini, Ester Alves Ferreira, Pereira, Gabriel Kalil Rocha, Polasani, Rohitha Rao, Squarize, Cristiane Helena, Kantorski, Karla Zanini, Valandro, Luiz Felipe, Bottino, Marco Cícero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.04.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Antifungal activity; Cell death; Cinnamon; Coatings; Dentistry; Dentures; Epithelial cells; Infrared spectroscopy; Medicine; Morphology; Original Article; Patients; Physical characteristics; Polymers; Polymethylmethacrylate; Prosthetics; Scanning electron microscopy; Stomatitis; Toxicity; Electrospinning; Cinnamomum verum; Denture stomatitis; Nanofibers; Candida albicans
• ISSN: 1436-3771; 1432-6981; 1436-3771
• DOI: 10.1007/s00784-021-04341-5

Objectives To modify the surface of denture base material by coating it with cinnamon-laden nanofibers to reduce Candida albicans ( C. albicans ) adhesion and/or proliferation. Materials and methods Heat-cured poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) specimens were processed and coated, or not, with cinnamon-laden polymeric nanofibers (20 or 40 wt.% of cinnamon relative to the total polymer weight). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses of the nanofibers were performed. Antifungal activity was assessed through agar diffusion and colony-forming unit (CFU/mL) assays. Representative SEM morphological analysis was carried out to observe the presence/absence of C. albicans on the fibers. Alamar blue assay was used to determine cell toxicity. Analysis of variance and the Tukey’s test were used to analyze the data ( α  = 0.05). Results SEM imaging revealed nanofibers with adequate (i.e., bead-free) morphological characteristics and uniform microstructure. FTIR confirmed cinnamon incorporation. The cinnamon-laden nanofibers led to growth inhibition of C. albicans . Viable fungal counts support a significant reduction on CFU/mL also directly related to cinnamon concentration (40 wt.%: mean log 6.17 CFU/mL < 20 wt.%: mean log 7.12 CFU/mL), which agrees with the SEM images. Cinnamon-laden nanofibers at 40 wt.% led to increased cell death. Conclusions The deposition of 20 wt.% cinnamon-laden nanofibers onto PMMA surfaces led to a significant reduction of the adhesive and/or proliferative ability of C. albicans, while maintaining epithelial cells’ viability. Clinical relevance The high recurrence rates of denture stomatitis are associated with patient non-adherence to treatments and contaminated prostheses use. Here, we provide the non-patients’ cooperation sensible method, which possesses antifungal action, hence improving treatment effectiveness.