Socio-economic differences in the use of dairy fat in Russian and Finnish Karelia, 1994–2004

Objectives

To determine socio-economic differences from 1994 to 2004 in the use of butter and milk in Pitkäranta in the Republic of Karelia, Russia and North Karelia, Finland.

Methods

Health behaviour surveys in Pitkäranta (n = 3,599) and North Karelia (n = 3,652) in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2004.

Results

A clear overall decrease occurred in the use of butter in cooking in Pitkäranta from 1994 to 2004. In both areas, subjects with lower education used butter in cooking and drank fat-containing milk more often. Regarding butter on bread, the educational patterns in the two areas were opposite: in Pitkäranta, subjects with lower education used butter less often but in North Karelia, they used butter on bread more often. Practically, no changes in socio-economic differences from 1994 to 2004 were observed in either area.

Conclusions

The socio-economic differences in the use of dairy fat were stable in both areas but larger in North Karelia than in Pitkäranta. Our results support earlier assumptions of a weaker role of education as a determinant of health in Russia than in the western societies.     

Bax and Bcl-2 are focally overexpressed in the normal epithelium of cancerous prostates

OBJECTIVE: Development of prostate cancer is connected with a disturbance of apoptosis. Prostate cancer is multifocal, suggesting that the control of apoptosis is impaired at multiple foci. We wanted to know whether apoptosis is generally disturbed in cancerous prostates and if changes in apoptotic control could be detected even in the absence of any morphologically visible changes. Therefore, we compared expression of two common apoptotic markers, Bax and Bcl-2, in normal epithelium of cancerous prostates and controls. We also evaluated the expression of these proteins in hyperplasia, prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), carcinomas of different Gleason grades and capsular perineural invasion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The tissue material was obtained from radical prostatectomies, transurethral resection chips and autopsies. Individual tissue arrays were done for each patient. The intensity of Bax and Bcl-2 immunostaining was estimated semiquantitatively. The data were analyzed using a linear mixed-models analysis as well as dichotomized staining indices. RESULTS: Normal epithelium of cancerous prostates contained foci with high expression of Bax and Bcl-2. The expression of Bax in Gleason grades 3-5 carcinoma was significantly higher than that in Gleason grade 2, and was highest in foci with perineural invasion. The expression of Bcl-2 was strongest in PIN foci. CONCLUSIONS: Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 in normal epithelium of cancerous prostates suggests that increases in these indirect markers may reflect altered apoptotic control in these foci. Further studies are needed to show whether these changes represent the earliest step of the multifocal carcinogenetic process. Control of apoptosis seems to be involved and modulated during local progression of prostate cancer.     

Effect of FGF and polylactide scaffolds on calvarial bone healing with growth factor on biodegradable polymer scaffolds

Repair of bone defects remains a major concern in reconstructive surgery. Synthetic biodegradable polymers have been used as scaffolds for guided bone regeneration. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) promote cell growth, differentiation, and tissue maintenance factors. They can stimulate the proliferation of osteogenic cells and chondrocytes, and also promote angiogenesis. Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factors (FGF-1 and FGF-2, respectively) are the best known members of this protein family. To evaluate the healing of experimental bone defects using poly-L/D-lactide (PLDLA) 96/4 scaffolds and FGF-1, 18 adult rats were operated on. A 6-mm diameter critical size defect (CSD) was made in the calvarial bone of each rat. The animals were divided into three treatment groups: 1) Neither scaffold nor FGF was used (control group); 2) scaffold only; and 3) scaffold with FGF-1. Follow-up time was eight weeks. Samples were embedded in methylmethacrylate and 5-microm thick sections from the middle of each specimen were stained with modified Masson-Goldner method. The shape and size of defects were evaluated radiologically. New bone formation was measured histologically and histomorphometrically. Radiologically, in the control group the shape of the defects changed from round to oval and edges were blunt. In the other groups the defects were round with sharp edges. Histomorphometrically, mean surface area of bone trabeculae was 1.05 mm (SD +/- 0.25) in group 1 (no implant), 1.35 mm (SD +/- 0.52) in group 2 (implant) and 0.79 mm (SD +/- 0.34) in group 3 (implant and FGF-1). Histological examinations revealed no or little osteoid in the groups 1 and 2, whereas in the group 3 samples had little or moderate new bone formation. Accordingly, no clear benefit of using knitted PLDLA scaffolds combined with FGF-1 on the healing of calvarial critical size defects in rats could be demonstrated.     

Poly-L/D-lactide (PLDLA) 96/4 fibrous implants: histological evaluation in the subcutis of experimental design

Poly-L/D-lactide (PLDLA) 96/4 fibrous implants have been introduced to engineer functional fibrous constructions in situ. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the guidance of the fibrous tissue formation and the tissue reaction of porous PLDLA 96/4 scaffolds implanted in subcutaneous tissue. Three various PLDLA 96/4 knitted-mesh scaffolds (Loose, Ordinary, and Dense) were implanted subcutaneously in 32 rats, and followed-up from 3 days until 48 weeks postsurgery. Histological examination showed that PLDLA 96/4 scaffolds provided a structurally supporting element for 48 weeks. They were filled with fibrous tissue by 3 weeks. During the follow-up, loose connective tissue was organized into dense connective tissue with thick collagen bundles. At 48 weeks, no statistically significant difference was found in the amount of loose or dense connective tissue between the scaffold groups of various porosities, although the tendency for higher amounts of loose connective tissue was seen in the Loose type scaffolds. PLDLA filament diameters were 121 mum at 2 weeks, 119 mum at 24 weeks and 116 mum at 48 weeks (P = 0.03 between 2 and 48 weeks). Porous PLDLA scaffold induced fibrous tissue formation in situ. This can be exploited in engineering fibrous tissue constructs in vivo for tissue support or replacement purposes.     

Parental influence on children's oral health-related behavior

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences between oral health-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of children and their parents, and to identify the family-related factors associated with children's poor or good oral health-related behavior. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data were gathered by means of questionnaires from 11-12-year-old schoolchildren and their parents who replied without having knowledge of the answers of the others. Differences between subgroups of children were analyzed by cross-tabulation, and the factors related to children's good or poor oral health-related behavior by logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Parents of children who reported good oral health-related behavior had better knowledge and more favorable behaviors than those of other parents. Predictors for a child's poor oral health-related behavior were the child's poor knowledge, male gender, the parent's frequent consumption of sweets, and the parent's infrequent use of xylitol gum. When a less strict threshold for the child's poor oral health-related behavior was used, more predictors entered the model: the parent's unfavorable use of fluoride toothpaste; among girls, the parent's lack of knowledge; and among children whose mother's occupation level was high, the parent's infrequent use of xylitol gum. The parents of children whose oral health behavior was favorable were more likely to have a high level occupation and favorable oral health-related behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Oral health-related knowledge of children and their parents seems to be associated with children's oral health-related behavior. Parents' behaviors, but not attitudes, were associated with children's oral health behavior.     

Early epitope- and isotype-specific humoral immune responses to GAD65 in young children with genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes

OBJECTIVE: The pattern of the humoral immunity to disease-associated autoantigens may reflect the severity of the autoimmune disease process. The purpose of this study was to delineate the maturation of the humoral immunity to one of the main autoantigens in type 1 diabetes (T1D), glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD65). DESIGN AND METHODS: Serum samples were obtained for the detection of epitope- and isotype-specific antibodies sequentially with short intervals from 36 young children with HLA-conferred genetic susceptibility to T1D starting from the first appearance of GAD65Ab. During prospective observation, ten children developed T1D. Antibodies were analyzed using biotinylated anti-human immunoglobulin (Ig) antibodies and chimeric GAD molecules in radio-binding assays. RESULTS: The immune response to GAD65 started as reactivity to the middle region and spread rapidly to the C-terminal region. IgG1 antibodies dominated among the isotypes from the first appearance of GAD65Ab, while other IgG subclasses were observed to a lesser extent. IgG4 antibodies emerged clearly as the last IgG subclass. A broad initial response comprising three to four IgG subclasses and the lack of an emerging IgG4 response during follow-up was associated with increased risk for progression to clinical diabetes (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The humoral response to GAD65 epitope clusters is relatively uniform in young children, whereas there is conspicuous individual variation in IgG subclass responses except for IgG1. A narrow initial IgG subclass response to GAD65 and the emergence of IgG4 antibodies were characteristic of those who remained non-diabetic over the first few years of GAD65 autoimmunity.