Inactivation of MAPK in epididymal fat and amelioration of triglyceride secretion by injection of GRK2 siRNA in ob/ob mice

Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology - Abnormal G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) accumulation has a crucial role in the development of insulin resistance and diabetes....     

Do patients have a preference for major connector designs?

AIM: The aim of this research was to evaluate patients' preferences for resin analogs of four major connector designs formulated to have equal rigidity once fabricated in the same alloy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Nineteen Kennedy Class I or II partially edentulous patients participated at two centers. The four major connector analogs (MCAs) were fabricated for each subject using light-polymerizing acrylic resin. The subjects were asked to wear each of them in the mouth for 30 seconds in six pairs in random order, and to report their preference for each pair. Based on these data, the four analogs were ranked in a descending preference order for each patient. Within-subject comparisons preferences were performed with the Friedman test, and the multiple comparisons were performed with the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test for data of each sample independently. RESULTS: Statistically significant and consistent preference orders were revealed for both samples, and the thin and wide design was significantly preferred to the thick and narrow design. However, a higher variation was observed for the first preference of each subject. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects demonstrated a tendency to prefer thinner MCAs. However, the individual predilections of patients may not be an appropriate basis for an attempt to find a 'best design' applicable to all patients.     

Histomorphometric analysis of rat alveolar wound healing with hydroxyapatite alone or associated to BMPs

Several materials and techniques have been proposed to improve alveolar wound healing and decrease loss of bone height and thickness that normally follow dental extraction. The objective of this research was the histologic analysis of bone morphogenetic proteins implanted into dental alveoli of rats after extraction. A total of 45 adult male Wistar rats were divided into three groups of 15 animals each: control (no treatment), implanted with pure hydroxyapatite (HA, 3 mg) and implanted with hydroxyapatite plus bone morphogenetic proteins (HA/BMPs, 3 mg). Five animals from each group were sacrificed at 7, 21 and 42 days after extraction for the histometric analyses of the osteoconductive potential of hydroxyapatite associated or not with BMPs. After dissection, fixation, decalcification and serial microtomy of 6-micron thick sections, the samples were stained with hematoxylin-eosin for histologic and histometric analyses. Both HA and HA/BMPs caused a delay in wound healing compared to control animals, evaluated by the percentage of bone tissue in the alveoli. The treatment with HA/BMPs had the greatest delay at 21 days, even though it produced values similar to the control group at 42 days. The materials did not improve alveolar repair in the normal period of wound healing and the association of HA/BMPs did not have osteoconductive properties with granulated hydroxyapatite as the vehicle.     

Effect of a desensitizing agent containing glutaraldehyde and HEMA on bond strength to Er:YAG laser-irradiated dentine

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a desensitizing agent (GLUMA Desensitizer) containing glutaraldehyde and HEMA improved the bond strength and bonding durability of a self-etching primer adhesive to Er:YAG-irradiated dentine. METHOD: Dentine of 120 human molars was exposed by wet grinding on SiC paper for bond strength testing. Thirty specimens each were allocated to the following treatment groups: (1) control; (2) Er:YAG laser irradiation; (3) Er:YAG laser irradiation followed by application of GLUMA Desensitizer; (4) Er:YAG laser irradiation followed by application of GLUMA Desensitizer and 10s rinsing with water. Composite cylinders were bonded to the dentine surfaces with a self-etching priming adhesive system. Tensile bond strengths (TBS) of 10 specimens of each treatment group were measured after 24-h water storage, 6 months water storage and 12 months water storage, respectively, and the failure modes were analyzed. TBS data were statistically treated by two-way ANOVA and Fisher's PLSD test at a significance level of p<0.05. RESULTS: TBSs for the GLUMA-non rinse and GLUMA-rinse groups were significantly higher than for the laser group at 24 h and 12 months. Specimens from the Er:YAG-irradiated dentine group had significantly lower bond strengths than the control group at each storage time. All control specimens showed cohesive fractures in resin close to the bonding interface whereas the Er:YAG laser-irradiated groups showed both dentine cohesive, resin cohesive and dentine-resin mixed failures. CONCLUSION: Application of GLUMA Desensitizer to Er:YAG-irradiated dentine increases the bond strength and durability of the self-etching priming adhesive used.     

The trans-chromosomic mouse-derived human monoclonal antibody promotes phagocytosis of Porphyromonas gingivalis by neutrophils

BACKGROUND: As a safe immunotherapeutic approach, human monoclonal antibody (hMAb) may be effective in clearing periodontopathic bacteria. The trans-chromosomic (TC) technology has recently been applied to construction of the TC mouse, which enables us to incorporate entire human chromosome fragments containing immunoglobulin (Ig) gene cluster. The aim of this study is to establish TC mouse-derived hMAb, and to test the in vitro opsonophagocytic activity. METHODS: Human Ig-producing TC mouse was immunized by recombinant 40-kDa outer membrane protein (r40-kDa OMP) of Porphyromonas gingivalis 381, and the spleen cells were fused with the mouse myeloma cell line. The specificity of antir40- kDa OMP hMAb was evaluated with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and surface plasmon resonance assays. Flow cytometric analyses were performed to assess the opsonophagocytic activity. RESULTS: We successfully constructed 99 IgG isotype clones (IgG1: 84; IgG2: 11; IgG4: four clones), which were specifically reactive with r40-kDa OMP. The anti-r40-kDa OMP IgG1 hMAbs promoted phagocytosis of P. gingivalis by neutrophils. Futhermore, an increased opsonophagocytic activitity of anti-r40-kDa OMP IgG1 hMAbs was observed not only in P. gingivalis 381, but also in the W50, W83, and Su63 strains. CONCLUSION: Our results document the TC mouse-derived hMAb to promote neutrophil phagocytosis of P. gingivalis, suggesting an immunotherapeutic option for clearance of P. gingivalis.     

Relationship between peripapillary choroidal thickness and degree of tessellation in young healthy eyes

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - To determine the relationship between the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) and the degree and distribution of the...     

Histological features of primary tumors after induction or high-dose chemotherapy in high-risk neuroblastoma

Purpose

In the recent years in Japan, an increasing number of patients with neuroblastoma (NB) are being treated by the “delayed local treatment (DL)” policy, undergoing surgery after the completion of high-dose chemotherapy with hematopoietic stem cell rescue (HDC). We reviewed the histopathological findings of second-look operations, including those of patients treated with DL.

Patients

From 1998 to 2013, 26 patients with high-risk NB underwent radical operation following chemotherapy. Surgery was performed after induction chemotherapy in 17 cases (standard; STD), whereas 9 cases completed induction chemotherapy and HDC before undergoing tumor resection (DL). The amount of necrosis and the degree of differentiation within the post-treatment tumor were assessed.

Results

Eighty-eight percent of the tumors showed necrosis in more than 1/3 of the specimen. Two DL cases showed complete disappearance of viable tumor cells. Amount of necrosis did not affect the prognosis of the patient. Tumors with immature, poorly differentiated phenotypes showed an extremely aggressive thereafter. Though not statistically proven, ¹²³I-MIBG (metaiodobenzylguanidine) uptake may be correlated with the amount of viable cells remaining within the tumor, but not with the degree of differentiation.

Conclusions

Our results support the previous reports advocating that tumors that sustain unfavorable histology after chemotherapy behave aggressively thereafter.     

Early magnetic resonance detection of cortical necrosis and acute network injury associated with neonatal and infantile cerebral infarction

Background

Knowledge of MRI findings in pediatric cerebral infarction is limited.

Objective

To determine whether cortical necrosis and network injury appear in the acute phase in post-stroke children and to identify anatomical location of acute network injury and the ages at which these phenomena are seen.

Materials and methods

Images from 12 children (age range: 0–9 years; neonates [<1 month], n=5; infants [1 month–12 months], n=3; others [≥1 year], n=4) with acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) cortical infarction were retrospectively analyzed. Cortical necrosis was defined as hyperintense cortical lesions on T1-weighted imaging that lacked evidence of hemorrhage. Acute network injury was defined as hyperintense lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging that were not in the MCA territory and had fiber connections with the affected cerebral cortex. MRI was performed within the first week after disease onset.

Results

Cortical necrosis was only found in three neonates. Acute network injury was seen in the corticospinal tract (CST), thalamus and corpus callosum. Acute network injury along the CST was found in five neonates and one 7-month-old infant. Acute network injury was evident in the thalamus of four neonates and two infants (ages 4 and 7 months) and in the corpus callosum of five neonates and two infants (ages 4 and 7 months). The entire thalamus was involved in three children when infarction of MCA was complete.

Conclusion

In acute MCA cortical infarction, MRI findings indicating cortical necrosis or acute network injury was frequently found in neonates and early infants. Response to injury in a developing brain may be faster than that in a mature one.     

Comparisons of multi b-value DWI signal analysis with pathological specimen of breast cancer

Previous studies have reported that the signal attenuation of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for tumor tissues displays a non-monoexponential biexponential decay, and the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) can be divided into a fast and slow diffusion component by using a simple biexponential decay model. The purpose of this study is to examine the non-monoexponential character of the diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging signal attenuations of breast cancers, estimate the fast and slow diffusion components, and compare them with the extra- and intracellular component information obtained from the pathological specimens. Twenty-two subjects having breast cancers underwent diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging using six b-values up to 3500 s/mm(2) and the signal attenuations were analyzed using the biexponential function. The derived slow component fraction correlated with the cellular fraction and the ADCs converged to 0.2-0.3 × 10(-3) mm(2) /s for the higher cellular fractions. The ADCs of the fast component ranged from 1.3 to 3.9 × 10(-3) mm(2) /s and showed no correlation with the extracellular components. This result suggests that the main reason for the decreasing ADC of a breast tumor is the decreasing fraction of the fast component and the increasing fraction of the slow component having a low ADC rather than the decreasing ADC of the fast component by the restricted water diffusion in the reduced extracellular spaces.