Martin, VictorRibeiro, Isabel A. C.Alves, Marta M.Gonçalves, LídiaAlmeida, António JoséGrenho, LilianaFernandes, Maria H.Santos, Catarina F.Gomes, Pedro S.Bettencourt, Ana2024-01-222024-01-222019Martin V, Ribeiro IAC, Alves MM, Gonçalves L, Almeida AJ, Grenho L, et al. Understanding intracellular trafficking and anti-inflammatory effects of minocycline chitosan-nanoparticles in human gingival fibroblasts for periodontal disease treatment. International Journal of Pharmaceutics [Internet]. dezembro de 2019;572:118821. Disponível em: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S037851731930866Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10451/62014© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Periodontal diseases remain a challenge due to a complex interplay of factors involving a chronic inflammatory activation and bacteria internalization in periodontal cells. In this work, chitosan-nanoparticles loaded with minocycline (MH-NPs), a tetracycline with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects, were developed for in situ delivery in the periodontal milieu aiming to improve drug effectiveness. A general cytocompatibility evaluation and a detailed approach to address the cellular uptake process, trafficking pathways and the modulation of relevant inflammatory gene expression was conducted using human gingival fibroblasts. Results show that MH-NPs with an adequate cytocompatible profile can be internalized by distinct endocytic processes (macropinocytosis and clathrin-mediated endocytosis). The ability to modulate autophagy with the delivery within the same endosomal/lysosomal pathway as periodontal pathogens was observed, which increases the intracellular drug effectiveness. Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS-stimulated cultures, grown in the presence of MH-NPs, were found to express significantly reduced levels of inflammation-related markers (IL-1b, TNFα, CXCL-8, NFKB1). These nanoparticles can be potentially used in periodontal disease treatment conjoining the ability of intracellular drug targeting with significant anti-inflammatory effects.engChitosanMinocyclineIntracellular-target deliveryPerioceuticsInflammationPeriodontitisjournal article2023-02-27cv-prod-242094510.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.1188212-s2.0-85075787156