Fig. 4

Role of the Cur/ZNP hydrogel in ameliorating alveolar bone loss in rats with experimental periodontitis. (A). Micro-CT reconstruction revealed alveolar bone loss in the maxillary first molars. (B). Quantitative analysis of alveolar bone loss in the maxillary first molar at six sites. The sagittal plane parallel to the long axis of the teeth was chosen to measure the distance between the cemento-enamel junction and the alveolar bone crest (CEJ-ABC) to assess the ABL at the interproximal site. (C). Quantitative analysis of the bone volume/total volume (BV/TV) of the region of interest (ROI) in the first molar beneath the furcation area. A 500 × 300 μm² region apical to the root furcation was chosen as the ROI, and a three-dimensional reconstruction model was used to analyze the bone parameters in the ROI. (D). Quantitative analysis of the trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) of the ROI in the first molar beneath the furcation area. (E). Hematoxylin and eosin staining of distal periodontal tissue of the maxillary first molar of rats. The data are presented as the mean ± standard deviation (n = 5 rats per group). A, alveolar bone; C, crown; G, gingiva; P, periodontal membrane; R, root; CEJ-ABC, cemento-enamel junction and alveolar bone crest. a, Compared with the sham group; ^*P < 0.05; b, compared with the EP group, ^*P < 0.05; c, compared with the Cur gel group, ^*P < 0.05; d, compared with the ZNP gel group, ^*P < 0.05. Cur, curcumin; ZNP, zinc oxide nanoparticle; EP, experimental periodontitis