Clinical and bacteriological evaluation of the effect of estrogen supplementation on the periodontium of postmenopausal women

Sixty postmenopausal females with marginal periodontitis who were on maintenance periodontal therapy were selected for this study. Thirty of these cases were on estrogen replacement therapy for the management of their menopausal symptoms. The other 30 served as a control group and have not received any hormonal medication. Clinical and bacteriological assessment for both groups included gingival index, plaque index, probing depth, attachment level and counts of certain selected periopathogens, were recorded and subjected to statistical analysis using Student-t test. On comparing both groups, the results indicated that the mean of the gingival index was significantly lower in the estrogen group, and the difference was statistically significant. On the other hand, slightly lower values of the plaque index, probing depth and attachment levels were observed for the estrogen group, but the difference from the control did not have any statistical significance. Also, nonstatistically significant differences were observed on comparing the mean values of the bacteriological counts for the estrogen group with their controls. The results suggested that, estrogen supplementation in postmenopausal women results in less gingival inflammation when compared to an age matched control group

Detection of HCV RNA in saliva of patients with positive serum HCV RNA

Approximately half of the patients with type C hepatitis do not have a history of parenteral exposure. The route of nonparenteral infection remains unknown. The existence of hepatitis C virus [HCV] RNA in saliva was examined by "nested" polymerase chain reaction [PCR]. Amplification of the HCV 5 noncoding sequences was carried out. Among 20 patients with chronic liver disease who were positive for anti-HCV and serum HCV RNA, the prevalence of HCV RNA in saliva was 60% [12/20]. The presence of HCV RNA in saliva of patients positive for serum HCV RNA indicates that saliva might have a role in nonparenteral transmission of hepatitis C. Furthermore, the high prevalence of HCV RNA in saliva may have important implications in medical and dental practice