Indocyanine Green Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles

Photodynamic Therapy

Non-Surgical Periodontal Therapy

Chronic Periodontitis

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory condition marked by progressive attachment loss and bone destruction. Traditional therapy includes mechanical debridement; however, subgingival pathogens persist in complex biofilms. Hence photodynamic therapy using photosensitizers for elimination of subgingival pathogens is being widely studied. Indocyanine green is one such photosensitizer which when used along with lasers has shown promising results. Photosensitizer bioavailability is found to be better when used in the form of nanoparticles.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of photodynamic therapy (PDT) using indocyanine green (ICG) loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) as an adjunct to scaling and root planing (SRP) in patients with chronic periodontitis.

In this randomized controlled interventional study, 40 patients with moderate to severe periodontitis were randomly allocated into test (SRP + PDT) and control (SRP alone) groups. ICG-CS-NPs were applied locally and activated with 810 nm diode laser. Clinical parameters (plaque index-PI, gingival index-GI, probing pocket depth-PPD, and clinical attachment level-CAL) were recorded at baseline and 3 months. Subgingival plaque samples were analysed for colony forming units (CFU).

In both the treatment groups there was a significant improvement in all the clinical parameters from baseline to 3 months. When intergroup comparisons were made the test group showed a statistically significant improvements in probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level as well as colony forming units (CFU) of Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) & Aggregatibactor actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) at 3 months post therapy.

Chitosan (CS) encapsulated ICG- Nanoparticles mediated PDT when used as an adjunct to SRP in the treatment of chronic periodontitis patients can render improvements in clinical as well as microbiological parameters. CS-ICG-NP can be considered as an alternative to conventional photosensitizers used in PDT for the treatment of chronic periodontitis.

Periodontitis

Indocyanine green

Chitosan nanoparticles

Photodynamic therapy

Scaling and root planing

Biofilm

© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.