Salivary biomarkers present in patients with periodontitis without clinical distinction: findings from a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A new classification for periodontitis has been adopted in clinical practice. However, there are still discussions regarding this new classification and difficulties in its adoption, both by professionals and researchers. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate which salivary biomarkers are present in periodontitis, following the new classification of periodontal diseases through meta-analysis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A literature search was carried out in the scientific databases: PubMed, Scielo and Google scholar to select studies. The selection of studies was followed by two authors upon reading of the title, abstract and full text. The necessary data were collected and statistical analyses were performed using the Review Manager statistical software version 5.4, with calculation of Mean Difference, heterogeneity (I²) and funnel plot with P < 0.05. RESULTS: After following the selection criteria, 9 articles were selected for comparison. The studies address the presence of biomarkers in the saliva of patients with periodontitis and their possible use in the monitoring and diagnosis of the disease. For the meta-analytic comparison, a sample size of 1,983 individuals was used. Statistical analyses showed that nitric oxide, IL-6, IL-1B and osteoprotegerin are substances that are significantly present in patients with periodontitis (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: IL-6, nitric oxide, IL-1B, TNF-α and osteoprotegerin are among the most present biomarkers in patients with periodontitis, and may be used in the future as a monitoring of periodontal disease. The present study also revealed that there was no statistically significant difference in the concentration of these biomarkers for clinical distinction from periodontitis.

Avaliação da atividade larvicida do óleo essencial do Zingiber officinale Roscoe (gengibre) frente ao mosquito Aedes aegypti / Evaluation of the larvicidal effectof the essential oil of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) against the mosquito Aedes aegypti

RESUMO Este trabalho analisa o efeito larvicida do óleo Zingiber officinale Roscoe contra larvas em terceiro estágio do mosquito Aedes aegypti. Extraiu-se quantitativamente o óleo essencial por hidrodestilação e calculou-se a CL50 do óleo, a partir dos métodos de Reed-Muench e Pizzi, respectivamente. O óleo essencial obteve CL50 de 76,07 (±2,24) μg mL-1 e rendimento de 0,52% m/v. Os resultados indicam que o óleo essencial avaliado é composto por substâncias que propiciam efeito larvicida contra Aedes aegypti.

ABSTRACT This study analyzes the larvicidal effect of the oil of Zingiber officinale Roscoe against larvae in third stage of the mosquito Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus 1792). The essential oil was extracted quantitatively by hydrodistillation and we calculated the oil’s LC50 from Reed-Muench (1938) and Pizzi (1950) methods, respectively. The essential oil obtained LC50 of 76.07 (±2.24) ug mL-1, and yield of 0.52% m/v. The results indicate that the essential oil assessed has substances that provide larvicidal effect against Aedes aegypti.

Correlation between pathological distal esophageal acid exposure and ineffective esophageal motility.

AIM: To assess the correlation between esophageal dysmotility, characterized as inefficient esophageal motility (IEM), and the presence of pathological acid reflux due to a structurally defective lower esophageal sphincter (LES), hiatus hernia. (HH), or esophagitis in patients with suspected gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). METHODS: 311 patients referred for GERD diagnostic procedures in a gastroesopahgeal motility laboratory were included in the study. Patients underwent an interview regarding their clinical symptoms, upper endoscopy (UE), stationary esophageal manometry, and 24-h esophageal pH-metry. The following risk factors of patients in the negative pH-metry group were compared to those in the positive pH-metry group: IEM, defective LES, HH, and esophagitis. The association between IEM and positive pH-metry results was first assessed by means of univariate analysis and later determined with multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Out of the total of 311 studied patients, 208 met the inclusion criteria; 88 had normal and 120 had positive pH-metry results. Univariate analysis revealed that the occurrence of IEM, defective LES, and HH was significantly greater in the positive pH-metry group. Following logistic regression analysis, the occurrence of IEM remained significantly greater in the positive pH-metry group. CONCLUSIONS: IEM is associated with the presence of abnormal acid reflux, as assessed by 24-h esophageal pH-metry, regardless of the presence of defective LES, HH, or esophagitis.

Learning effect in visual field testing of healthy subjects using Humphrey Matrix frequency doubling technology perimetry.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the learning effect of frequency doubling technology (FDT) perimetry using the Humphrey Matrix perimeter in healthy subjects with no perimetric experience. METHODS: One eye of 28 healthy adults who had no history of visual field testing underwent three Matrix tests using 24-2 programme with full-threshold strategy. The results of the first session were compared with those of the second, and the third sessions. Learning effect was defined as an improvement at results for duration, perimetric indices, and the number of points with a P<5 and <1% in the total and pattern deviation maps. Anderson's criteria were applied to define abnormal examinations. RESULTS: The mean in the mean deviation global index was -7.40+/-1.49 dB in the first session, -4.64+/-0.97 dB in the second session, and -3.29+/-0.93 dB in the third session. Pattern standard deviations were decreased as the tests were repeated (P<0.01). Test duration, fixation losses, false negative, and the number of points with a P<5 and <1% in the total and pattern deviation maps rate were also changed significantly (P<0.05). Among the criteria suggested by Anderson, the Glaucoma Hemifield Test performed better in all session tests. The false-positive rates ranged from 50% (95% confidence intervals [CI] 30.6-69.4%) to 64% (95% CI 44.1-81.4%) for the first session, 29% (95% CI 13.2-48.7%) to 54% (95% CI 33.9-72.5%) for the second session, and from 18% (95% CI 6.1-36.9%) to 32% (95% CI 15.9-52.4%) for the third session. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that the learning effect for Humphrey Matrix FDT perimetry must be considered in normal individuals with no perimetric experience.

Goiânia: 12 years after the 137Cs radiological accident.

In 1987, in the city of Goiânia, Brazil, occurred one of the worst radiological accidents ever reported. The remains of 137Cs contamination in a terrain where part of a radiotherapy unit had been manipulated in 1987 were measured in 1999-2000, and some of the results are presented here. Using the technique of gamma ray spectrometry in situ and in the laboratory, the ambient dose equivalent rate at 1 m above the ground and 137Cs concentration in soil were determined. Values higher than the ones established by the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) as action levels in 1987, namely 0.8 microGy x h and 22.5 kBq x kg(-1), were obtained in that terrain. The 137Cs distribution profile in the soil shows high values of the specific activity in a layer located at a depth of 10-40 cm from the surface, where the soil is mixed with rubble, reaching values as high as 175 kBq x kg(-1).

Measurements performed in Goiânia after a new intervention action in 2001.

Brazil's worst radiological accident took place in 1987, in the city of Goiânia. In 1999 and 2000, detailed measurements of 137Cs contamination were performed in junkyard II, one of the places involved in the accident. High values of 137Cs activity per unit mass were found in soil layers at depths between 10 and 40 cm from the surface, reaching values as high as 175 kBq x kg(-1). High values of 137Cs concentration in fruits and plants were also observed. Moreover, values of ambient dose equivalent rate at 1 m above the ground were found to be higher than the limit of 1.0 microSv x h(-1) set by the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) in 1987. In February 2000, the CNEN was informed about the results of our measurements. As consequence, in August 2001, the CNEN performed a new intervention action in the area, covering all its extension with a concrete layer and removing some plants and trees. The new remedial action reduced the dose rate to approximately 13% of the value prior to covering the site in concrete, reaching values below the CNEN limit, as demonstrated by the measurements presented here.

Remains of 137Cs contamination in the city of Goiânia, Brazil.

The results of measurements, performed in 1999, of the remaining 137Cs contamination in some of the sites where fragments of a radioactive source of a teletherapy unit had been manipulated in 1987 are presented. This episode occurred in the city of Goiânia, during Brazil's worst radiological accident ever reported. Using the technique of gamma ray spectrometry, analyses of both surface and profile soil and vegetable samples were made. High values of 137Cs activity per unit mass were found in soil layers at depths between 10 and 40cm from the surface. Some values exceeded by up to eight times the action level of 22.5 kBq x kg(-1) proposed by the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) during the decontamination process at the time of the accident, for the first year after the accident. Absorbed dose rates at 1 m above the ground were calculated from the data of 137Cs concentration in the soil and compared with those obtained from in situ gamma ray spectrometry and from thermoluminescence dosimetry.

Reparacao de assoalho orbitario com enxerto do osso parietal. / Repair of the orbital floor with parietal bone graft

Os autores apresentam a experiencia na reparacao de assoalho orbitario fraturado utilizando enxerto osseo de tabua externa do osso parietal. Descrevem a tecnica empregada em seis pacientes que foram observados no periodo de 6 meses a 1 ano; analisam os resultados obtidos e discutem as vantagens e desvantagens desta conduta