Frontiers in Pharmacology (Oct 2022)

A multifunctional drug consisting of tetracycline conjugated with odanacatib for efficient periodontitis therapy

  • Dengke Li,
  • Dengke Li,
  • Wuyang Zhang,
  • Weiliang Ye,
  • Yuan Liu,
  • Yuan Li,
  • Yiming Wang,
  • Bingqing Shi,
  • Xueni Zheng,
  • Ying An,
  • Zhen Ma,
  • Kaijin Hu,
  • Hongzhi Zhou,
  • Yang Xue

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2022.1046451
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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The treatment of periodontitis can be very challenging due to its complex etiologies. A new pharmacologic strategy entitled “host-modulation therapy,” has been introduced to improve periodontal treatment outcomes. Supposedly, a multifunctional drug with the potential for bacterial infection prevention, host-response modulation and bone healing promotion would be a promising option for periodontitis therapy, but related studies remain substantially lacking. In this study, we successfully conjugated tetracycline with odanacatib (a selective inhibitor of cathepsin K) to construct a multifunctional drug (TC-ODN). We discovered that TC-ODN could promote macrophages polarizing toward anti-inflammatory phenotype and promote osteogenesis of PDLSCs under inflammatory microenvironment. In vivo, TC-ODN could be absorbed and distributed specifically to the bone after systemic administration, and accumulation of TC-ODN increased bone mineral density in ovariectomized rats. Importantly, periodontal administration of TC-ODN could successfully promote bone healing in periodontitis rats with alveolar bone loss. The findings in our study uncovered the excellent biocompatibility and multifunction of TC-ODN, including bone-targeted accumulation, immunoregulation, anti-inflammatory activity and promotion of bone healing, which might contribute to the clinical treatment of periodontitis.

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