A preliminary study on bacterial composition in the subgingival plaque of woman with periodontitis during pregnancy and menopause

Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore the bacterial composition in subgingival plaque of females with periodontitis during pregnancy and menopause stages using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene pyrosequencing approach.Methodology: Subgingival plaque was collected from four woman volunteers (healthy, periodontitis, periodontitis at pregnancy and periodontitis at menopause). The microbial community composition was analyzed by 454/Roche GS FLX chemistry pyrosequencing approach using the variable (V1-V3) region of the 16S rRNA gene. Pyrosequencing reads were sorted to get the clean reads that were annotated against the EzBioCloud data base for taxonomic classification. Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were assigned and shared, and subsequently identified using CLCOMMUNITY software. Results: Pyrosequencing yielded 13,939 sequences comprising of 13 phyla, 124 genera, and 372 species. The predominant microbial phyla in subgingival plaque of all woman volunteers included Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Fusobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria. In the healthy volunteer, Streptococcus (52.4%) formed the predominant genus while in woman with periodontitis Streptococcus (24.6%) and Fusobacterium (11.7%) predominated. In the periodontitis volunteer with pregnancy, the predominant genus included Streptococcus (25.8%) and Fusobacterium (22.4%), whereas volunteer with menopause, the gingivitis was associated with genus Alloprevotella (19.5%), Leptotrichia (14.3%), Fusobacterium (12.3%), and Porphyromonas (12.0%). Interpretation: This study proves on preliminary basis that the subgingival microbiome of woman with periodontitis at pregnancy or menopause tend to differ from that of healthy woman, and these species included certain periodontal pathogens such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis

Changes in activity of hepatic xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes of tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes) exposed to paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins.

Attempts were made to examine the effect of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSP) on hepatic xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes (XMEs) of tiger puffer (Takifugu rubripes). Two groups of nontoxic tiger fish were analyzed, and one group was fed with a PSP-containing diet (PSP group), and another with a PSP-free diet (control group). After 60 days of feeding, they were compared to each other mainly in terms of the activity of XMEs. Both groups did not differ from each other significantly in body weight gain, hepatosomatic index, and condition factor Hepatic level of cytochrome P450 was lower in PSP group than control group. NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase, NADH-cytochrome b5 reductase, and ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) exhibited a reduced activity in PSP group than control group. Statistical analysis found that the activity or concentration of those enzymes correlated with the hepatic level of PSR with r2=0.497-0.611.

Immunizing children to protect against the increasing risk of hepatitis A in adolescents and young adults in South Korea.

We evaluated the CR326F strain (VAQTA) derived hepatitis A vaccine in Korean children and adolescents >2 years of age to consider a future immunization program. In our study, the pediatric two-dose regimen of VAQTA was found to be generally well tolerated and resulted in 100% (95% CI 94.8, 100.0) seroconversion after 2 doses. Immunizing children with the HAV vaccine routinely should be considered in South Korea, particularly in areas where recent outbreaks have occurred.