Antibacterial effectiveness of low energy diode laser irradiation on management of periodontitis in Down syndrome

With the poor oral hygiene exhibited by patients with Down syndrome, the potential for a robust flora arises causing Periodontitis. Along with periodontal disease, the patient population has other medical conditions that limit treatment. This study was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial effectiveness of an 870-nm diode laser on periodontitis in patients with Down syndrome. Thirty five patients with Down syndrome suffering from periodontitis were included in this study and divided into two groups, Group I [25 patients] laser was applied to one half of the mouth and the other half was considered as a control and Group II included [10 patients] basic periodontal treatment was applied to evaluate the systemic effect of laser. Quantification of A. actinomycetemconcomitans, P. Gingivalis and Capnocytophaga were carried out using real-time PCR technique at baseline and at 2 weeks, at 6 weeks and at 12 weeks post periodontal and laser treatment. A. Actinmycetcomitans and P. gingivalis were the most common organisms found in the studied patients and Capnocytophaga was the least common organisms. In group I the quantitative results of A. actinomycetemconcomitans, P. Gingivalis at 2 weeks were significantly lower in both sides of mouth than that of baseline level. After 6 week, it was still significantly lower than that of the baseline in the right side of the mouth, but at 12 weeks no significant difference was observed in both sides. In group II, quantitative results of A. actinomycetemconcomitans, P. Gingivalis at 2 weeks were also significantly lower than that of baseline but not at 6 and at 12 weeks. As regards, Capnocytophaga there was no significant difference at baseline, at 2 weeks, at 6 weeks and at 12 weeks post periodontal and laser treatment in both groups I and II. Scaling and root planning plus laser therapy was better than scaling and root planning alone in the chosen patients and this antibacterial effect continues to be significant up to 6 weeks after therapy. Based upon the results of the study, it was found that Laser therapy could be used for the treatment of periodontitis as a complementary therapy not to replace mechanical intervention

Molecular detection of Epstein-Barr Virus in breast cancer

The association of Epstein Barr virus [EBV] with breast carcinomas [BCs] is still in controversy. The aim of this study was to clarify the association of EBV and BC in Egyptian females and to assess its role as potential contributor to the development and behavioral alteration of BC. EBV-DNA was detected using PCR on breast tissue from 40 female patients with primary invasive BC; ductal [n=32] and lobular [n=8] and 20 age matched females undergoing reduction mammoplasties as control. EBV-DNA was detected in 8/40 [20%] BC specimens. On the other hand all control specimens were negative As regards prognostic factors, no association was observed between EBV-DNA and patients' age, menopausal status and steroid receptor expression. However, significant associations were detected between the presence of EBV-DNA and other poor prognostic factors. All of the EBV-DNA positive BC were significantly associated with positive nodal status, where 7/8 cases showed more than three tumor-positive LN involvement. In spite of the small number of invasive lobular carcinoma included in this study there was a significant correlation between this histological type of poor prognosis and EBV-DNA detection rate where 4/8 [50%] of them were positive for EBV-DNA compared to 4/32 [12.5%] detection rate in invasive ductal carcinoma. A significant correlation was found between EBV-DNA detection rate in BC and high tumor grade of invasive ductal carcinoma; [100%, 1/1] association with grade III versus [9.67%; 3/ 31] with grade II. Our results demonstrated the presence of the EBV genome in a considerable subset of BC in Egyptian patients. The virus was more frequently associated with bad prognostic factors. This indicates that EBV may play a role in the development and behavioral alteration of some aggressive BC

Detection of a point mutation at codon 12 of the Kirsten-Ras [K-ras] oncogen in myelodysplastic syndrome

Mutations in ras genes have been observed in a variety of cancers and were found to play an important role in human leukemogenesis and in preleukemic disease as myelodysplastic syndrome [MDS]. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of mutated K-ras oncogene in myelodysplastic syndrome [MDS]; with a special emphasis on their possible role in affecting clinical status, relation to karyotypic pattern; response to therapeutic measures; its impact on the fate of the disease and overall survival. Detection of point mutation of Kirsten-ras [K-ras] gene in 30 patients suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome was carried out using quantitative enriched polymerase chain reaction [QEPCR] and was confirmed by sequencing. QEPCR is a two- stage PCR procedure with modified primers that enriches mutant alleles, via restriction endonuclease digestion of normal alleles and enables identification of one mutant allele among 100,000 normal alleles. Activating mutations of the codon 12 of K-ras gene were detected in 7/30 [23.3%] cases of MDS, the most common mutation involved a substitution of aspartic acid for glycine [GGTGAT]. The incidence of K-ras mutations was found to be significantly associated with refractory anemia with excess blasts type II [RAEBII] and unclassified [UC] MDS than other subtypes [p=0.005], and was significantly associated with hypercellular bone marrow [p=0.04] showing marked dyserythropoitic changes. Furthermore, mutant K-ras gene was found to be significantly associated with abnormal karyotypes [p=0.04]. Patients with mutated K-ras gene were significantly associated with either high or intermediate risk according to International Prognostic Scoring System [IPSS] [p=0.001]. 6/7[85.7%] of those carrying the mutation showed poor response to treatment compared to non carriers with a statistical significant difference [p=0.009]. Five out of eight [62.5%] patients who were transformed to AML carried the mutant K-ras gene, their subtypes were RAEBII and unclassified MDS with abnormal cytogenetics mainly Monosomy 7. Overall survival was detected using Kaplan-Meier curve and the mean survival time of patients who carried K-ras mutations were significantly lower than those without the mutation [Log rank test=12.7; p=0.0004]. MDS patients bearing an mutated K-ras oncogene frequently showed poor response to treatment; leukemic progression of the disease and shorter overall survival, suggesting that an activated K-ras oncogene is a critical factor for prognostic evaluation; therapeutic decision and monitoring of response to treatment of MDS patients

Molecular detection of circulating chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in patients with acute and chronic coronary heart disease: Comparison with serological assay

This study was conducted on 40 patients; 18 with acute coronary syndrome [ACS] [group 1] and 22 with chronic coronary heart disease [CHD] [group 2]. Fifteen healthy age- and sex-matched subjects were taken as controls. CPn [Chlamydia pneumoniae] DNA was detected by a highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction [PCR] technique using primers derived from outer membrane protein gene [ompl]. The serological assay of CPn-IgG antibodies was determined by an indirect immunofluorescence technique. Serum homocysteine was also measured by an enzyme conversion immunoassay method. In conclusion, patients with CHD, particularly ACS, have a high prevalence of CPn infection than the healthy controls. Besides, CPn DNA detection is more sensitive than the serological tests in identifying subjects with current infection. The contribution of CPn infection in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is independent of the other conventional atherogenic risk factors