A Case⁻Control Study of Socio-Economic and Nutritional Characteristics as Determinants of Dental Caries in Different Age Groups, Considered as Public Health Problem: Data from NHANES 2013⁻2014.

One of the principal conditions that affects oral health worldwide is dental caries, occurring in about 90% of the global population. This pathology has been considered a challenge because of its high prevalence, besides being a chronic but preventable disease which can be caused by a series of different demographic, dietary" among others. Based on this problem, in this research a demographic and dietary features analysis is performed for the classification of subjects according to their oral health status based on caries, according to the age group where the population belongs, using as feature selector a technique based on fast backward selection (FBS) approach for the development of three predictive models, one for each age range (group 1: 10⁻19; group 2: 20⁻59; group 3: 60 or more years old). As validation, a net reclassification improvement (NRI), AUC, ROC, and OR values are used to evaluate their classification accuracy. We analyzed 189 demographic and dietary features from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013⁻2014. Each model obtained statistically significant results for most features and narrow OR confidence intervals. Age group 2 obtained a mean NRI = -0.080 and AUC = 0.933; age group 3 obtained a mean NRI = -0.024 and AUC = 0.787; and age group 4 obtained a mean NRI = -0.129 and AUC = 0.735. Based on these results, it is concluded that these specific demographic and dietary features are significant determinants for estimating the oral health status in patients based on their likelihood of developing caries, and the age group could imply different risk factors for subjects.

Dopaminergic D2-like agonists produce yawning in the myelin mutant taiep and Sprague-Dawley rats.

Systemic administration of D2-like dopaminergic-receptor agonists increases yawning behavior. However, only a few studies have been done in animals with pathological conditions. The taiep rat is a myelin mutant with an initial hypomyelination followed by progressive demyelination, being the brainstem one of the most affected areas. In our experiments, we analyzed the effects of systemic administration of the D2-family agonists and antagonists on yawning behavior, and correlated them with the lipid myelin content in the brainstem and other areas in the central nervous system (CNS) in 8 month old male taiep and Sprague-Dawley rats. Subjects were maintained under standard conditions in Plexiglas cages with a 12:12 light-dark cycle, lights on at 0700 and free access to rodent pellets and tap water. Drugs were freshly prepared injected ip at 0800 and subjects were observed for 60 min. When antagonists were used it was administered 15 min before the agonist. Sprague-Dawley and taiep rats significantly increased their yawning frequency after systemic injection of (-)-quinpirole hydrochloride, R(+)-7-Hydroxy-2-(dipropylamino)tetralin hydrobromide (7-OH-DPAT) or trans-(±)-3,4,4a,10b-tetrahydro-4-propyl-2H,5H-[1]benzopyrano [4,3-b]-1,4-oxazin-9-ol hydrochloride ((±)-PD 128,907). Among D2-like agonists used higher effects are obtained with (-)-quinpirole. The effects caused by (-)-quinpirole can be reduced by (-)-sulpiride; and yawning caused by 7-OH-DPAT was decreased by tiapride only in taiep rats. In Sprague-Dawley only (-)-sulpiride is able to decrease (-)-quinpirole-caused yawning. In conclusion, dopaminergic D2-like agonists are still able to cause yawning despite the severe myelin loss in taiep rats. Similarly, patients with various CNS illnesses that affect myelin, such as stroke or multiple sclerosis, are able to yawn suggesting that trigger neurons are still able to command this innate behavior.

Comparative analysis of maternal care in the high-yawning (HY) and low-yawning (LY) sublines from Sprague-Dawley rats.

High- and low-yawning rats (HY and LY) were selectively bred as a function of their spontaneous yawning frequency with the LY subline about 2 yawns/hr and the HY 20 yawns/hr. The HY rats have more grooming bouts and travel longer distances in an open field. HY dams spent less time in the nest, retrieved their pups faster, and show a longer latency to licking and mouthing the pups than the LY or outbred Sprague-Dawley (SD) animals. The percentage of HY dams that had atypical retrieving was higher, with a lower nest quality, and produced offspring whose weights were lower than those from the LY subline. We also showed that the pregnant HY dams have fewer pups and the percentage that had lost at least three pups during lactation was higher than the SD and LY dams. In conclusion, HY dams are motivated to take care of their pups, but the "fine tuning" of maternal care is disturbed.

Presynaptic dopaminergic agonists increased gripping-generated immobility episodes in the myelin-mutant taiep rat.

The taiep rat is a myelin mutant whose immobility episodes (IEs) can be caused by gripping them by the tail. Electroencephalographic recordings during IEs show a rapid-eye movement sleep-like pattern, similar to narcolepsy-cataplexy in canines. Systemic administration of alpha(2)-adrenoceptor agonists and the alpha(1) antagonist increase gripping-generated IEs. Furthermore, adrenergic alpha(2) antagonists decrease them. Serotonin receptors are also involved in the regulation of IEs, because the 5-HT(1A)-5-HT(1B) serotonin-receptor agonists decrease the IE frequency, as do the postsynaptic-serotonergic 5-HT(2A-2C) agonists. The rats were maintained under standard conditions with a 12:12h light:dark cycle, lights on at 0700, with free access to rodent pellets and tap water. Drugs were freshly prepared using sterile water and administered intraperitoneally at 0800 with the observation lasting 90 min. The IEs were caused by gripping the rat's tail every 5 min. Systemic injection of (-)-quinpirole, R(+)-7-hydroxy-2-(dipropylamino)tetralin (7-OH-DPAT), or trans-(+/-)-3,4,4a,10b-Tetrahydro-4-propyl-2H,5H-[1]benzopyrano[4,3-b]-1,4-oxazin-9-ol ((+/-) PD 128,907) increased both the frequency and mean duration of the IEs. The IEs produced by (-)-quinpirole were blocked by the previous administration of (-)-sulpiride and those by 7-OH-DPAT were blocked by tiapride. Systemic injection of sulpiride reduced gripping-generated IEs, but not the changes with either tiapride or U-99194, two other antagonists. In canine narcolepsy, systemic administration of D(2)-dopaminergic agonists increases the frequency of cataplexies and decreased them by using (-)-sulpiride similar to the pharmacological profile in taiep cataplexies. Because of this evidence, we proposed taiep rats as an adequate model of this sleep illness and for the evaluation of anticataplexic drugs.

Activation of serotonin 5-HT1-receptors decreased gripping-induced immobility episodes in taiep rats.

The taiep rat is a myelin mutant that shows a disorganized sleep-wake cycle and immobility episodes (IEs) when the animals are gripped at the base of the tail. During IEs electroencephalographic recordings show a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep-like pattern. These alterations are quite similar to those reported in narcolepsy-cataplexy. Pharmacologically, systemic administration of alpha(2) adrenoceptor agonists increases gripping-induced IEs, whereas alpha(2) antagonists decrease them. However prazosin, an alpha(1) antagonist, increases gripping-induced IEs. In male 8-month-old taiep rats we have studied the effect of systemic administration of serotonergic autoreceptor agonists and antagonists on gripping-induced IEs. 8-Hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino) tetraline hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT), a 5-HT(1A) agonist, and 3-trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine hydrochloride (TFMPP), a 5-HT(1B) agonist, produce a significant decrease in the frequency and mean duration of IEs. Systemic administration of spiperone and 1-(2-methoxyphenyl)-4[4-(2-phthalimido) butyl]piperazine hydrobromide (NAN-190), 5-HT(1) antagonists, increase IEs and their mean duration. When the specific serotonin antagonist N-[2[4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl]-N-2-pyridinyl-cyclohexanecarboxamide maleate (WAY 100635, 100 microg/kg) was injected 15 min before 8-OH-DPAT, this specific antagonist reverses the effects caused by the 5-HT(1A) agonist. These results show that serotonergic 5-HT(1)-receptors are involved in the susceptibility of gripping-induced IEs in taiep rats. Similar results have been reported in the food-elicited cataplexy test in narcoleptic dogs.

Characterization of the spontaneous and gripping-induced immobility episodes on taiep rats.

In 1989, we described a new autosomic-recessive myelin-mutant rat that develops a progressive motor syndrome characterized by tremor, ataxia, immobility episodes (IEs), epilepsy, and paralysis. taiep is the acronym of these symptoms. The rat developed a hypomyelination, followed by demyelination. At an age of 7-8 months, taiep rats developed IEs, characterized electroencephalographically by REM sleep-like cortical activity. In our study, we analyzed the ontogeny of gripping-induced IEs between 5 and 18 months, their dependence to light-dark changes, sexual dimorphism, and susceptibility to mild stress. Our results showed that IEs start at an age of 6.5 months, with a peak frequency between 8.5 and 9.5 months. IEs have two peaks, one in the morning (0800-1000 h) and a second peak in the middle of the night (2300-0100 h). Spontaneous IEs showed an even distribution with a mean of 3 IEs every 2 h. IEs are sexually dimorphic being more common in male rats. The IEs can be induced by gripping the rat by the tail or the thorax, but most of the IEs were produced by gripping the tail. Mild stress produced by i.p. injection of physiological saline significantly decreased IEs. These results suggested that IEs are dependent on several biological variables, which are caused by hypomyelination, followed by demyelization, which causes alterations in the brainstem and hypothalamic mechanisms responsible for the sleep-wake cycle regulation, producing emergence of REM sleep-like behavior during awake periods.