{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T00:09:58Z","timestamp":1790294998986,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]],"date-time":"2025-07-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753920000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Research Foundation of Republic of Korea (NRF)","award":["RS-2021-NR058416"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2021-NR058416"]}]},{"name":"Republic of Korea Government (MSIT)","award":["RS-2021-NR058416"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RS-2021-NR058416"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Polymers"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease, causes alveolar bone loss. Current treatments show limitations in achieving dual antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. We evaluated an emodin-loaded thermoresponsive hydrogel as a local drug delivery system for periodontitis treatment. Emodin itself demonstrated antibacterial activity against Porphyromonas gingivalis, with minimal inhibitory and minimal bactericidal concentrations of 50 \u03bcM. It also suppressed mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-1\u03b2, and IL-6] in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. The hydrogel, formulated with poloxamers and carboxymethylcellulose, remained in a liquid state at room temperature and formed a gel at 34 \u00b0C, providing sustained drug release for 96 h and demonstrating biocompatibility with human periodontal ligament stem cells while exhibiting antibacterial activity against P. gingivalis. In a rat model of periodontitis, the hydrogel significantly reduced alveolar bone loss and inflammatory responses, as confirmed by micro-computed tomography and reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction of gingival tissue. The dual antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of emodin, combined with its thermoresponsive delivery system, provide advantages over conventional treatments by maintaining therapeutic concentrations in the periodontal pocket while minimizing systemic exposure. This shows the potential of emodin-loaded thermoresponsive hydrogels as effective local delivery systems for periodontitis treatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/polym17152108","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T08:51:41Z","timestamp":1754038301000},"page":"2108","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Emodin-Loaded Thermoresponsive Hydrogel as a Potential Drug Delivery System for Periodontal Disease in a Rat Model of Ligature-Induced Periodontitis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Gyu-Yeon","family":"Shim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dental Biomaterials, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seong-Hee","family":"Moon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomaterials and Implant, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Jeonbuk Institute for Food Bio-Industry, Jeonju 54810, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4140-5157","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seong-Jin","family":"Shin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dental Biomaterials, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Tissue Regeneration Engineering (ITREN), Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Chungnam, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hyun-Jin","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biomaterials and Implant, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Department of Oral Anatomy, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7250-721X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seunghan","family":"Oh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dental Biomaterials, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Biomaterials and Implant, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8607-8604","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ji-Myung","family":"Bae","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dental Biomaterials, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Institute of Biomaterials and Implant, College of Dentistry, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"},{"name":"Musculoskeletal and Immune Disease Research Institute, Wonkwang University, Iksan 54538, Jeonbuk, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,31]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gao, S., Lin, M., Chen, W., Chen, X., Tian, Z., Jia, T., Xue, Y., Song, J., Lu, Y., and Zhou, L. 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