pH-Activated nanoparticles with targeting for the treatment of oral plaque biofilm

Oral plaque biofilms are highly resilient microbial assemblies that are challenging to eradicate. Herein, we describe the synthesis and study of pH-positive, doxycycline (DOX)-loaded nanocarriers to combat pathogenic biofilms. The mixed shell-core nanoparticles consisted of quaternary ammonium chitosan (TMC) as a positively charged section, which targeted nanoparticles to negatively charged biofilm surfaces. In addition liposomes were used as a DOX loading tool to eradicate the multidrug-resistant biofilm. In a drug release test, DOX release was pH-dependent with t_1/2 = 0.75 h and 2.3 h for release at pH 4.5 and 6.8, respectively. Furthermore, TMC-Lip-DOX NPs could adhere to the biofilm and efficiently remove the biofilm from the hydroxyapatite (HA) surface. Furthermore, TMC-Lip-DOX NPs had biocomaptible properties and were non-toxic to MC3T3-E1 cells. This constitutes a highly effective pathway to control oral plaque biofilms and has a good potential use for dental biofilm therapies.