Novel cinnamon-laden nanofibers as a potential antifungal coating for poly(methyl methacrylate) denture base materials

Objectives To modify the surface of denture base material by coating it with cinnamon-laden nanofibers to reduce Candida albicans ( C. albicans ) adhesion and/or proliferation. Materials and methods Heat-cured poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) specimens were processed and coated, or not, with cinnamon-laden polymeric nanofibers (20 or 40 wt.% of cinnamon relative to the total polymer weight). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses of the nanofibers were performed. Antifungal activity was assessed through agar diffusion and colony-forming unit (CFU/mL) assays. Representative SEM morphological analysis was carried out to observe the presence/absence of C. albicans on the fibers. Alamar blue assay was used to determine cell toxicity. Analysis of variance and the Tukey’s test were used to analyze the data ( α = 0.05). Results SEM imaging revealed nanofibers with adequate (i.e., bead-free) morphological characteristics and uniform microstructure. FTIR confirmed cinnamon incorporation. The cinnamon-laden nanofibers led to growth inhibition of C. albicans . Viable fungal counts support a significant reduction on CFU/mL also directly related to cinnamon concentration (40 wt.%: mean log 6.17 CFU/mL