ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to analyse mastication and the sense of taste in 39 patients submitted to cancer treatment in different areas of the body and to compare these variables with those of 44 control individuals within the same age range. The following aspects were assessed: dental status (DMFT); stimulated and non-stimulated salivary flow; sense of taste (salty, sweet, bitter and sour); and masticatory performance (MP), through the calculation of X(50). Logistic regression models were established to test the association between the independent variables and cancer treatment. Cancer patients had lesser stimulated salivary flow, a smaller number of teeth and occlusal units, worse MP, higher salty, sweet and sour taste scores and a lower bitter taste score (P < 0·05). A significant positive correlation was found between MP and the DMFT index in both groups (P < 0·05), meaning that a lower DMFT index value denoted a smaller X(50) value (better masticatory performance). The logistic regression model revealed that patients who had undergone cancer treatment had a greater probability of exhibiting a smaller number of teeth, higher salty and smaller bitter taste scores (P < 0·05). It was concluded that patients who were submitted to cancer treatment presented oral physiology alterations when compared with control subjects at the same age range.
Subject(s)
Mastication/physiology , Neoplasms/physiopathology , Salivation/physiology , Taste Perception/physiology , Adult , Aged , Brazil , Case-Control Studies , DMF Index , Female , Humans , Logistic Models , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasms/therapy , Regression Analysis , Reproducibility of Results , Statistics, NonparametricABSTRACT
The complement protein C6 has been shown to be genetically polymorphic in the rat. Isoelectric focusing of plasma samples from 19 inbred strains demonstrated two electrophoretically distinguishable migration patterns, each consisting of three bands. Breeding studies with the use of the BN and DA strains showed that the C6 patterns were inherited in a manner consistent with the co-dominant autosomal expression of two alleles (C6 A and C6 B). The distribution of the C6 alleles in a backcross mating was compared with eight independently segregating marker genes: RT1.A, RT2, Gdc -1, Igk-1, Hbb, Svp-1, Fh-1, and Es-6. There was no detectable linkage between C6 and any of these eight loci.
