牙周病是一種非常廣泛且與宿主免疫反應相關之牙周發炎性疾病，也是僅次於齲齒的全球流行性口腔疾病。如不即早治療，最終將對牙齒、骨頭造成無法弭補的缺損。由於牙周病初期並無明顯症狀，一般就診時，皆已到中末期階段。牙周病的治療以牙菌斑的祛除與控制為主，適當的藥物治療以祛除牙齦炎並抑制微生物生長也漸漸成為重要的治療策略之一。傳統牙周病使用之抗生素以四環黴素為主。然而因其溶解度低、半衰期短且口服易造成腸胃不適，並在高劑量下併發有肝毒性與腎毒性的風險。因此本研究為了改善上述缺點，研發奈米藥物傳遞系統，提高藥物安定性、在患處集中緩慢釋放藥物與降低藥物副作用等目標。本研究研發的奈米包覆劑型將以生物可降解性聚乳酸共聚甘醇酸為原料（通過美國食品藥物管理局核可進行人體實驗），作為包覆四環黴素的奈米載體。目前本研究已能穩定製作包覆率（10.96 mg/100 mg）比類似研究多10倍，平均半徑251.24±32.11 nm。在純水環境下已證實此藥物在奈米載體內可達60天以上穩定性。生物活性測試證實，四環黴素經過奈米劑型包覆後，生物相容性比未經包覆的藥物提高約1.3倍，此製程及添加物也未影響生物相容性；且抗菌敏感性實驗證實奈米劑型比未經包覆藥物的抗菌效果還高。根據本研究證實四環黴素之奈米新劑型，確實具有優良的穩定性、生物相容性與增強的抗菌之能力，相信此劑型能有助於治療牙周病。 Periodontal disease is a highly prevalent disease caused by anaerobic bacteria and often results in the inflammation of gums. Long term periodontal disease without further treatment often results in irretrievable tooth and bone loss.Early symptoms of periodontal disease are often undetectable and mild. Once diagnosed, the symptoms are at a critical stage. The treatment of periodontal disease involves scaling and rooting plane to remove subgingival calculus and biofilm deposits. Using appropriate medicine is another method for dentists to relieve local inflammatory reactions and inhibit subgingival bacteria. Traditional therapy often involves the use of orally administered antibiotics such as tetracycline. However, tetracycline has many disadvantages such as: (a) low solubility; (b) short half-life; (c) gastrointestinal adverse reactions by oral administration; (d) hepatotoxicity, renal toxic related high dose; and (e) photosensitivity. Therefore, in order to improve conventional therapy, the studies focused on drug delivery systems through nanotechnology translation.The designed nanoparticles use biodegradable poly(dl-lactide-co-glycolide) polymer(FDA approval) and was loaded with tetracycline. NPs were prepared with the double-emulsion method, showed particles with a mean diameter of 251.24�32.11 nm, and the encapsulation efficiency (10.96 mg/100 mg) showed an improvement of 10 times compared with other papers. The stability study showed NPs improve tetracycline stably in dd-H2O. The biocompatibility study demonstrated that PLGA shows insignificant toxicity to normal cells, and antimicrobial susceptibility test showed a substantial increase in effectiveness compared to the free form drug. We demonstrated that tetracycline loaded nanoparticles provide good stability, biocompatibility and better antimicrobial effects in this study. This design will contribute greatly to the future of periodontal disease treatment.
