Studying positional changes of the disc-condyle-fossa complex in ADDWoR patients after TMJ disc repositioning surgery

OBJETIVES

To investigate the positional changes in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disc-condyle-fossa complex of patients with anterior disc displacement without reduction (ADDWoR) and to evaluate the effect of disc repositioning (DR) surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Fifteen patients with unilateral ADDWoR (30 joints) were included. MRI of the TMJ was performed at T0 (1 week before surgery), T1 (1 month after surgery), and T2 (9-12 months after surgery). The glenoid fossa, disc, and condyle were reconstructed and analyzed using Mimics software.

RESULTS

In the patients with unilateral ADDWoR, the disc on the ADD side showed a tendency to downward shift in the coronal direction and forward shift in the sagittal direction; the condyle of ADD side showed a tendency to backward shift in the sagittal direction and upward shift in the coronal direction. When comparing the same ADDwoR TMJ at T0, T1, and T2, the disc was found to move upward and backward after DR surgery at T1 and T2, and the condyle was found to move upward and backward after DR surgery at T1 but returned to the original position at T2.

CONCLUSIONS

ADDWoR leads to forward and downward displacement of the disc relative to the condyle and upward displacement of the condyle relative to the tuberosity. DR surgery improved upon the structural abnormalities of the TMJ complex, for which stability was maintained as determined in the 9 to 12 month postoperative follow-up.

CLINIC RELEVANCE

DR surgery effectively and constantly improves the positional abnormalities of the TMJ complex.

MXene-Based Aptameric Fluorosensor for Sensitive and Rapid Detection of COVID-19

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-caused COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly escalated into the largest global health emergency, which pushes to develop detection kits for the detection of COVID-19 with high sensitivity, specificity, and fast analysis. Here, aptamer-functionalized MXene nanosheet is demonstrated as a novel bionanosensor that detects COVID-19. Upon binding to the spike receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2, the aptamer probe is released from MXene surface restoring the quenched fluorescence. The performances of the fluorosensor are evaluated using antigen protein, cultured virus, and swab specimens from COVID-19 patients. It is evidenced that this sensor can detect SARS-CoV-2 spike protein at final concentration of 38.9 fg mL^-1 and SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus (limit of detection: 7.2 copies) within 30 min. Its application for clinical samples analysis is also demonstrated successfully. This work offers an effective sensing platform for sensitive and rapid detection of COVID-19 with high specificity.

Near-Infrared Light-Activated Mesoporous Polydopamine for Temporomandibular Joint Osteoarthritis Combined Photothermal-Chemo Therapy

The treatments generally employed for temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) involve physical therapy and chemotherapy, etc., whose therapeutic efficacies are impaired by the side effects and suboptimal stimulus responsiveness. Although the intra-articular drug delivery system (DDS) has shown effectiveness in addressing osteoarthritis, there is currently little reported research regarding the use of stimuli-responsive DDS in managing TMJOA. Herein, we prepared a novel near-infrared (NIR) light-sensitive DDS (DS-TD/MPDA) by using mesoporous polydopamine nanospheres (MPDA) as NIR responders and drug carriers; diclofenac sodium (DS) as the anti-inflammatory medication; and 1-tetradecanol (TD) with a phase-inversion temperature of 39 °C as the drug administrator. Upon exposure to 808 nm NIR laser, DS-TD/MPDA could raise the temperature up to the melting point of TD through photothermal conversion, and intelligently trigger DS release. The resultant nanospheres exhibited an excellent photothermal effect and effectively controlled the release of DS through laser irradiation to accommodate the multifunctional therapeutic effect. More importantly, the biological evaluation of DS-TD/MPDA for TMJOA treatment was also performed for the first time. The experiments' results demonstrated that DS-TD/MPDA displayed a good biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo during metabolism. After injection into the TMJ of rats afflicted with TMJOA induced by unilateral anterior crossbite for 14 days, DS-TD/MPDA could alleviate the deterioration of TMJ cartilage, thus ameliorating osteoarthritis. Therefore, DS-TD/MPDA could be a promising candidate for photothermal-chemotherapy for TMJOA.