The effect of Schizophyllan on the differentiation of osteoclasts and osteoblasts.

Schizophyllan (SPG), a ß-glucan from Schizophyllum commune, is recognized for its antioxidant, immunoregulatory, and anticancer activities. In this study, its effects on bone cells, particularly osteoclasts and osteoblasts, were examined. We demonstrated that SPG dose-dependently inhibited osteoclastogenesis and reduced gene expression associated with osteoclast differentiation. SPG also decreased bone resorption and F-actin ring formation. This inhibition could have been due to the downregulation of transcription factors c-Fos and nuclear factor of activated T cells 1 (NFATc1) via the MAPKs (JNK and p38), IκBα, and PGC1ß/PPARγ pathways. In coculture, SPG lowered osteoclastogenic activity in calvaria-derived osteoblasts by reducing macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF) and receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL) expression. In addition, SPG slightly enhanced osteoblast differentiation, as evidenced by increased differentiation marker gene expression and alizarin red staining. It also exhibited antiresorptive effects in a lipopolysaccharide-induced calvarial bone loss model. These results indicated a dual role of SPG in bone cell regulation by suppressing osteoclastogenesis and promoting osteoblast differentiation. Thus, SPG could be a therapeutic agent for bone resorption-related diseases such as osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and periodontitis.

Application of sequential multimodal analgesia before and after impacted mandibular third molar extraction: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Several analgesics have been applied under various protocols to control the moderate-to-severe postoperative pain caused by the surgical extraction of an impacted mandibular third molar. However, a consensus on optimal pain management while minimizing side effects is yet to be reached. Methods: This multi-center, prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of sequential multimodal analgesia combined with postoperative zaltoprofen along with multiple preemptive analgesics. A total of 80 participants with bilateral impacted mandibular third molar from two hospitals were randomized into two groups. Two surgical extractions were performed at one-month intervals, and in a crossover design, celecoxib or tramadol/acetaminophen was administered before one extraction and placebo before the other extraction. Following extraction, all subjects took zaltoprofen for 5 days. The outcome measures included pain at specific times, time and intensity of the first pain onset after extraction, need of rescue drugs, and occurrence and frequency of side effects. Conclusions: This ongoing clinical trial was designed to provide evidence regarding a new protocol for effective postoperative pain management of a commonly performed surgical extraction. The results of this study will provide guidance to clinicians regarding the timing and combination of oral analgesics in various oral surgeries performed under local anesthesia. Trial registration: KCT0005450, registered on October 7, 2020.

Risk of acute and chronic coronary syndrome in a population with periodontitis: A cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of periodontitis in the risk of acute and chronic coronary syndrome with compounding factors, including sociodemographic factors and medication use. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used nationwide, population-based data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service-Health Screening Cohort database (514,866 individuals, 40-79 years). Propensity score matching was used for analysis. Information of subjects for 12 years was included. Socioeconomic and clinical factors were recorded and analysed. RESULTS: The periodontitis group had a greater risk of overall acute coronary syndrome (hazard ratio [95% confidence interval] =1.25 [1.15, 1.35], p < .001) and non-fatal acute coronary syndrome (1.26 [1.16, 1.37], p < .001). The hazard ratio for chronic coronary syndrome was higher in patients with periodontitis (1.35 [1.25, 1.46], p < .001). The cumulative incidence of both acute and chronic coronary syndrome gradually increased, and the hazard ratios reached 1.25 and 1.35 at the 12-year follow-up, respectively. Subgroup analysis revealed that periodontitis had a significantly greater link with acute coronary syndrome incidence in males, younger adults, smokers and subjects without hypertension (p < .01) and with chronic coronary syndrome incidence in smokers, subjects without hypertension and subjects without dyslipidaemia (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Periodontitis is associated with an increased risk of acute and chronic coronary syndrome.

Effect of Decompression on Jaw Cystic Lesions Based on Three-Dimensional Volumetric Analysis.

Background and objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of decompression on jaw cysts according to various parameters by volumetric analysis using three-dimensional computed tomography. Materials and methods: Fifty patients who underwent surgical decompression of the jaw cystic lesion were selected, and their preoperative and postoperative computed tomography results between 3 and 27 months were collected. Volumetric analysis was performed to evaluate any differences in the rate of volumetric change according to the sex, age, initial volume of the lesion, duration, location of the lesion, tooth extraction, expansion of the cortical layer, and pathological diagnosis. Multiple linear regression and generalised linear mixed models were used for statistical analyses. Results: The mean reduction rate among all patients was 54.68%. Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that higher reduction rates were associated with a long decompression period, young patient age, and location of the cyst in the posterior maxilla. Generalised linear mixed models revealed that higher reduction rates were associated with a long decompression period and young patient age. Conclusions: Decompression was an effective treatment for reducing the cyst size in all patients. Its effectiveness increased with a long treatment duration, young patient age, and cyst location in the posterior maxilla three-dimensionally.

Comparison of RECIST 1.0 and RECIST 1.1 in Patients with Metastatic Cancer: A Pooled Analysis.

BACKGROUND: We conducted this pooled analysis to investigate the impact of RECIST 1.1 on the selection of target lesions and classification of tumor response, in comparison with RECIST 1.0. Methods : We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for articles with terms of RECIST 1.0 or RECIST 1.1. We looked into all abstracts and virtual meeting presentations from the conferences of ASCO and ESMO between 2009 and 2013. RESULTS: There were six articles in the literature comparing the clinical impacts of RECIST 1.0 and RECIST 1.1 in patients with metastatic cancer. A total of 359 patients were recruited from the six trials; 217 with non-small cell lung cancer, 61 with gastric cancer, 58 with colorectal cancer, and 23 with thyroid cancer. The number of target lesions by RECIST 1.1 was significantly lower than that by RECIST 1.0 (P<0.001). Because of new lymph node criteria, fourteen patients (3.1%) had no target lesions when adopting RECIST 1.1. RECIST 1.1 showed high concordance with RECIST 1.0 in the assessment of tumor responses (k = 0.903). Sixteen patients (4.8%) showed disagreement between the two criteria. CONCLUSION: This pooled study demonstrated that RECIST 1.1 showed a highly concordant response assessment with RECIST 1.0 in patients with metastatic cancer.

Three-dimensional mandibular change after sagittal split ramus osteotomy with a semirigid sliding plate system for fixation of a mandibular setback surgery.

OBJECTIVE: This study proposes a new plate system, a sliding plate, after sagittal split ramus osteotomy (SSRO). The sliding plate was designed to adjust the spatial relationship between the proximal and distal segments during the postoperative period. This plate was used for mandibular setback surgery to minimize forward early relapse. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-six Korean subjects who had undergone mandibular setback surgery by SSRO were included in this study. Skeletal stability was evaluated with lateral cephalograms and 3-dimensional cone-beam computerized tomography. RESULTS: Forward mandibular movement during the postoperative period was ~2 mm. The condyles rotated inward on the axial view after surgery. Postoperatively, the condyle rotated outward on the axial view, inward on the coronal view, and forward on the sagittal view by a statistically significant amount. CONCLUSIONS: The fixation method with sliding plates after SSRO was stable and convenient for the operators during surgery and postoperative care.

The fast skeletal muscle myosin light chain is differentially expressed in smooth muscle cells of OVA-challenged mouse trachea.

In a search for new molecular pathways associated with asthma, we performed an mRNA differential display analysis using total RNA extracted from the tracheal tissues of ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice and sham controls. cDNAs corresponding to mRNAs for which expression levels were altered by OVA-challenge were isolate and sequenced. Twenty-eight genes differentially expressed in sham and OVA challenged mice were identified. A GenBank BLAST homology search revealed that they were related to cytoskeleton remodeling, transcription, protein synthesis and modification, energy production, and cell growth and differentiation. Two were selected for further characterization. Up-regulation of both the perinatal skeletal myosin heavy chain (skMHC) and fast skeletal muscle myosin light chain (skMLC) genes was confirmed by RT-PCR of trachea tissue from OVA challenged mice. Overexpression of skMLC protein was observed in the smooth muscle layers of OVA-challenged mice by immunohistochemistry, and the surface areas stained with skMLC antibody increased in the OVA-challenged mice. The overexpression of skMLC in murine asthma may be associated with the changes of bronchial smooth muscle.

A Case of Axillary Adenoid Basal Cell Carcinoma.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common skin cancer with a steadily increasing incidence. Ultraviolet radiation is considered the single most important risk factor for BCC, because the tumor occurs most frequently in sun-exposed areas of the body, with approximately four of five BCCs occurring on the face. BCC occurs infrequently in non-sun-exposed skin. The axilla is one of the most sun-protected areas of the body, and BCC arising at this site is very rare. We herein report a case of adenoid BCC which arose from the axilla in a 33-year-old woman.

A Case of Aggressive NK/T-cell Lymphoma/Leukemia with Cutaneous Involvement in Adolescence.

NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is characterized by the expression of the NK-cell antigen CD56. Non-nasal NK/T-cell lymphomas are subdivided into primary cutaneous and 4 subtypes of secondary cutaneous lymphomas; nasal type, aggressive, blastic (blastoid), and other specific NK-like cell lymphoma. Aggressive NK/T-cell lymphoma/leukemia is a rare leukemic variant of nasal type NKTCL. We herein report a rare case of aggressive NK/T-cell lymphoma/leukemia with cutaneous involvement in adolescence.

Combined micro-Raman/UV-visible/fluorescence spectrometer for high-throughput analysis of microsamples.

Combined micro-Raman/UV-visible (vis)/fluorescence spectroscopy system, which can evaluate an integrated array of more than 10,000 microsamples with a minimuma size of 5 microm within a few hours, has been developed for the first time. The array of microsamples is positioned on a computer-controlled XY translation microstage with a spatial resolution of 1 mum so that the spectra can be mapped with micron precision. Micro-Raman spectrometers have a high spectral resolution of about 2 cm(-1) over the wave number range of 150-3900 cm(-1), while UV-vis and fluorescence spectrometers have high spectral resolutions of 0.4 and 0.1 nm over the wavelength range of 190-900 nm, respectively. In particular, the signal-to-noise ratio of the micro-Raman spectroscopy has been improved by using a holographic Raman grating and a liquid-nitrogen-cooled charge-coupled device detector. The performance of the combined spectroscopy system has been demonstrated by the high-throughput screening of a combinatorial ferroelectric (i.e., BaTi(x)Zr(1-x)O(3)) library. This system makes possible the structure analysis of various materials including ferroelectrics, catalysts, phosphors, polymers, alloys, and so on for the development of novel materials and the ultrasensitive detection of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals and diagnostic agents.

Production of bioactive human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor in transgenic rice cell suspension cultures.

Human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (hG-CSF), a human cytokine, was expressed in transgenic rice cell suspension culture. The hG-CSF gene was cloned into the rice expression vector containing the promoter, signal peptide, and terminator derived from a rice alpha-amylase gene Amy3D. Using particle bombardment-mediated transformation, hG-CSF gene was introduced into the calli of rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar Dong-jin. Expression of the hG-CSF gene was confirmed by ELISA and Northern blot analysis. The amount of recombinant hG-CSF accumulated in culture medium from transgenic rice cell suspension culture on the sugar starvation was determined by time series ELISA. Biological activity of the plant derived hG-CSF was confirmed by measuring the proliferation of the AML-193 cells, and was similar to that of the commercial Escherichia coli-derived hG-CSF. In this paper, we discuss the attractive attributes of using rice cell suspension system for the expression of therapeutic recombinant hG-CSF.

Titanium dioxide particle-induced goblet cell hyperplasia: association with mast cells and IL-13.

BACKGROUND: Inhalation of particles aggravates respiratory symptoms including mucus hypersecretion in patients with chronic airway disease and induces goblet cell hyperplasia (GCH) in experimental animal models. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. METHODS: To understand this, the numbers of goblet cells, Muc5ac (+) expressing epithelial cells and IL-13 expressing mast cells were measured in the trachea of sham or TiO2 particles-treated rats using periodic acid-Schiff, toluidine blue and immunohistochemical staining. RT-PCR for Muc-1, 2 and 5ac gene transcripts was done using RNA extracted from the trachea. Differential cell count and IL-13 levels were measured in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. In pretreatment groups, cyclophosphamide (CPA) or dexamethasone (DEX) was given before instillation of TiO2. TiO2 treatment markedly increased Muc5ac mRNA expression, and Muc5ac (+) or PAS (+) epithelial cells 48 h following treatment. RESULTS: The concentration of IL-13 in BAL fluids was higher in TiO2 treated-rats when compared to those in sham rats (p < 0.05). Pretreatment with cyclophosphamide (CPA) decreased the number of neutrophils and eosinophils in BAL fluid of TiO2 treated-rats (p < 0.05), but affected neither the percentage of PAS (+) cells, nor IL-13 levels in the BAL fluids (p > 0.05). In contrast, pretreatment with dexamethasone (DEX) diminished the percentage of PAS (+) cells and the levels of IL-13 (p < 0.05). TiO2 treatment increased the IL-13 (+) mast cells (p < 0.05) in the trachea, which was suppressed by DEX (p < 0.05), but not by CPA pretreatment (p > 0.05). In addition there were significant correlations of IL-13 (+) rate of mast cells in the trachea with IL-13 concentration in BAL fluid (p < 0.01) and with the percentage of Muc5ac (+) cells in the sham and TiO2 treated rats (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, TiO2 instillation induces GCH and Muc5ac expression, and this process may be associated with increased production of IL-13 by mast cells.