Predictors of tooth loss in two US adult populations.

OBJECTIVES: This study determines tooth loss rate over a 10-year period and identifies predictors of tooth loss in two separate US adult longitudinal study populations. METHODS: Subjects from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), consisting of 47 men and 47 women, ages ranging from 30 to 69 years, were compared to subjects from the VA Dental Longitudinal Study (VADLS) in Boston, MA, consisting of 481 men in the same age range. Baseline and follow-up examinations were performed on each cohort over a 10-year period. Using multivariate regression models, significant predictors of tooth loss were identified. RESULTS: A mean rate of tooth loss of 1.5 teeth lost per 10 years was noted in the VADLS cohort compared to 0.6 teeth lost per 10 years in the BLSA (P < .001). Combining subjects from both populations, significant predictors of tooth loss were baseline values of: percent of teeth with restorations, mean probing pocket depth score, age, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, number of teeth present, and male sex. However, the set of significant predictor variables differed between the two populations and sexes. In BLSA men, number of teeth present, percent of teeth with restorations, mean probing pocket depth score, and alcohol consumption, but not age, were significant, while in BLSA women, only age was a significant predictor. CONCLUSIONS: Over a 10-year period, the incidence of tooth loss, the rates of tooth loss, and the predictors of tooth loss were found to vary by population and by sex. These results illustrate the limits of generalizing tooth loss findings across different study cohorts and indicate that there may exist important differences in risk factors for tooth loss among US adult populations.

Sustained delivery of Her-2/neu antibody by TCPL delivery device using adult male rats as a model.

In recent years, there has been an increased interest in saliva as a diagnostic tool. Diagnosis of many diseases, including gastric cancer and immunodeficiency, has been made using saliva. The purpose of this study was to determine whether Her2/neu antibody, made in response to certain carcinomas of the breast, could be detected in saliva when experimentally placed at a remote site. This study was conducted using two male SD rats, each weighing between 300 g and 500 g. One experimental animal received 200 microliters, and the other, 500 microliters, of encapsulated c-erbB-2 monoclonal antibody (Signet, Dedham, MA) intraperitoneally. Prior to capsule placement, baseline serum and saliva samples were taken. Samples were also taken twenty, sixty-eight, 140, 188, 308 and 356 hours post-placement. Saliva flow was induced by administration of ophthalmic pilocarpine prior to sampling. All samples were kept at -20 degrees C. Antibody detection was performed using a modified double capture ELISA system. Tissue samples from various organs were evaluated using standard laboratory staining and immunostaining techniques. The animal receiving the higher antibody concentration showed a markedly greater salivary level of the antibody than the other (peak 24.158 hnu/ml vs. 18.313 hnu/ml at 308 and 188 hours post-implantation, respectively). These results seem to indicate that Her2/neu antibody saliva levels may serve as a useful, non-invasive method in the early detection of some breast cancers.

The potential use of saliva to detect recurrence of disease in women with breast carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Approximately 1 woman in every 10 will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. It has been shown that screening for breast cancer can reduce breast cancer mortality. The use of a saliva-based test could prove to be very useful in post-operative and/or adjunctive therapy management of breast cancer patients. METHODS: The following study was undertaken to establish the possible usefulness of the salivary protein product of the oncogene c-erbB-2 in following patients diagnosed with carcinoma of the breast. Included in this study were 25 patients with a mean age of 54 years with varying histological diagnoses and stages of carcinoma of the breast. ELISA assays for c-erbB-2 and CA 15-3 were performed on serum and stimulated whole saliva samples collected on all patients prior to any adjunct therapy or surgery and sequentially during therapy. RESULTS: The results of the GLM analyses using marker concentration as the dependent variable and treatment regimen and the serial assessments as independent variables yielded a significant overall model for both the serum (P < 0.007) and salivary (P < 0.017) c-erbB-2 markers. The model for serum c-erbB-2, however, exhibited a significant difference for treatment regimen (P < 0.001) with the chemotherapy and radiation treatment regimen being significantly different (P < 0.001) from the other treatment therapies. Time (serial assessments) was not significant. The model for the salivary c-erbB-2 marker was reversed. Treatment regimen was not significant for this model; however, time (serial assessments) was significant (P < 0.002). The serum and salivary CA 15-3 marker models yielded no significant results. Paired t-test analyses indicated that only the salivary c-erbB-2 concentrations exhibited a significant difference between the pre- and post-therapy values (t = 4.245, P < 0.0001). Additionally, salivary c-erbB-2 displayed greater percent reductions across all therapies as compared to the other markers. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study appears to indicate that c-erbB-2 protein expression in saliva may be a very useful diagnostic tool for measuring patient response to chemotherapy and/or surgical treatment of their disease.