Bacterial eradication from root dentine by ultrasonic irrigation with sodium hypochlorite

The study aimed to evaluate intracanal irrigation procedures in eradicating bacteria from surface, shallow and deep layers of root dentine using extracted human teeth. Artificial bacterial smear layer was successfully produced by rubbing a mixture of dental plaque and artificially decalcified dentine or carious dentine on root canal walls. The reservoir holes were 3.5 mm in depth, 1 mm in diameter prepared 1.5 mm apart and parallel to the root canals on the decrowned planes, in which five separate bacterial species were placed ( Actinomyces israelii, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Propionibacterium acnes, Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sanguis ). Bacterial eradication after irrigation of the prepared canals was determined by bacterial recovery (i) from the root canal surfaces and shallow layers where bacteria were smeared artificially and (ii) from deeper layers of root canal dentine reservoir holes.
Ultrasonic irrigation with 5.5% and 12% NaOCl eradicated bacteria from artificial smear layer ( P <0.0001), whilst 12% NaOCl irrigation with a syringe was insufficient. Ultrasonic irrigation with water or 15% EDTA failed to eradicate bacteria from smeared surfaces. Ultrasonic irrigation with 12% NaOCl killed A. israelii, F. nucleatum, P. acnes, S. mutans , and S. sanguis placed in reservoir channels, although for F. nucleatum , a very small number of bacteria remained in five samples out of 12. Ultrasonic irrigation with less concentrated NaOCl failed to eliminate bacteria completely from reservoir channels in most samples. Ultrasonic irrigation with 12% NaOCl appeared to eliminate bacteria efficiently from surface, shallow and deep layers of root dentine.     

Restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis of 16S rDNA from oral asaccharolytic Eubacterium species amplified by polymerase chain reaction

Restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of 16S rDNA amplified by polymerase chain reaction was used to generate restriction profiles of the type strains of oral asaccharolytic Eubacterium species, that is, Eubacterium brachy, Eubacterium exiguum, Eubacterium lentum, Eubacterium minutum, Eubacterium nodatum, Eubacterium saphenum, Eubacterium timidum and 33 asaccharolytic Eubacterium strains isolated from oral sites. The 16S rRNA gene sequences from isolated genomic DNA samples were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were purified and characterized by single digestions with 7 restriction endonucleases. Among the 7 endonucleases, Hpall was found to discriminate the respective reference strains. Twenty-three isolates, out of 33, were assigned to one of the reference species, on the basis of their restriction profiles by digestion with Hpall. The remaining 10 isolates could not be assigned to any of the established species and constituted 4 distinct groups, each of which may be a new species.     

An autopsied case of pulmonary carcinoma with perforation peritonitis due to metastatic tumor necrosis at the jejunum caused by chemotherapy

A 76-year-old man with lung carcinoma, who was undergoing both radiotherapy and chemotherapy (CDDP + ADR) suddenly died with the onset of abdominal symptoms. Autopsy disclosed that the main cause of death was suppurative panperitonitis, caused by a perforation of a metastatic lesion at the jejunum. A histological examination revealed extensive tumor necrosis in the metastatic liver lesions as well as in the jejunal lesions. Neither inflammatory nor circulatory damage was observed in the perforated lesion. Therefore, the cause of this perforation was considered to be chemotherapy that had brought on tumor necrosis. No similar reports of lung cancer deaths have been found in the literature in which the microscopic details were described. Accordingly, this case is reported for future reference with regard to cancer chemotherapy.     

Clinical effect of UFT in advanced renal cell carcinoma

Single administration of 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl)-5-fluorouracil (UFT) to patients with renal cell carcinoma with assessable lesions brought about 1 case each of complete response, partial response and no change, 3 cases of partial deterioration and the effective rate of 33.3%. As adverse effects, anorexia occurred in 1 of the 6 patients, but continual administration was possible by reducing the dose. The effective rate of UFT is high with few adverse effects, compared with the conventional chemotherapy. Therefore, UFT is considered to be an effective preparation for treating renal cell carcinoma.     

Antipsychotic and Prophylactic Effects of Acetazolamide (Diamox) on Atypical Psychosis

Abstract: We investigated the antipsychotic and prophylactic effects of acetazolamide (Diamox) on atypical psychosis. Acetazolamide was given to 30 patients: Type I, puberal periodic psychosis, a psychosis whose onset occurs during the period of puberty and which appears repetitively with psychosis-like condition at about the same interval as the menstrual cycle (6 cases); Type II, a) presenile atypical psychosis which initially appears in patients in their 20s or 30s accompanied by manic-depressive cycles and shows acute confusional and dreamy states in the presenile period, incurable cases (7), b) atypical psychosis, in the narrow sense, cases which show acute hallucination, delusion, confusional and dreamy states accompanied by affective symptoms (8 cases); Type III, repetitively the atypical manic and depressive states, and atypical manic-depressive psychosis, and transient changes in consciousness, refractory cases (2); Type IV, atypical schizophrenia, which is considered to be schizophrenia but shows the abnormalities in electroencephalogram and emotional disorders (7 cases). Among these cases, some extent of the therapeutic effects of acetazolamide (500–1,000 mg/day) was obtained in about 70%. The high therapeutic effects were particularly observed in Types I, II and III. It was less effective against atypical schizophrenia. Acetazolamide showed the effectiveness in 10 cases out of 13 cases to which lithium carbonate and carbamazepine were ineffective. The high therapeutic effects of acetazolamide were shown in the cases whose symptoms were aggravated at the interval of the menstrual cycle. No correlation was observed between the electroencephalographic abnormalities and the therapeutic effects. In addition, the prophylactic effects of acetazolamide on the periodic crisis were observed in 9 cases. From these results, acetazolamide was considered to have the antipsychotic and prophylactic effects on atypical psychosis. Since side effects due to acetazolamide were rarely observed, the present drug was considered to have a high safety margin.     

Plasma Cyclic AMP Level in Psychiatric Diseases of Childhood

Abstract: Determinations were made of the plasma cyclic AMP level to examine its relationship with hyperkinesis (Werry-Weiss-Peters Activity Scale, WWPAS) and other features of mental disorders in 80 children, of whom 21 had early infantile autism, 15 hyperkinetic mental retardation, 12 minimal brain dysfunction and 32 Down's syndrome. In autistic and hyperkinetic mentally retarded children, the plasma cyclic AMP levels were higher than in normal children and were positively correlated with the WWPAS score. In children with minimal brain dysfunction, the plasma cyclic AMP level was significantly lower than in normal children and was not correlated with the WWPAS score. In children with Down's syndrome, the plasma cyclic AMP level was somewhat higher than in normal children.     

Histopathological study on rats fed iodine-enriched eggs long-term (7 and 19 months)

A histopathological study was conducted on rats fed on a diet containing iodine-enriched eggs over the long term, 7 and 19 months. A laboratory powder chow was added at the 1% (w/w) level with ordinary egg powder (ordinary egg diet as control: 35 micrograms iodine/100 g diet) or iodine-enriched egg powder (iodine-enriched egg diet: 392 micrograms iodine/100 g diet). The animals were meal-fed twice a day and allowed unrestricted voluntary wheel-running. In general, organs, tissues and endocrine glands including thyroid glands from rats of the iodine-enriched egg diet group exhibited no significant difference in histopathological features as compared with those of the ordinary egg diet group. These results suggest that long-term feeding of a considerable amount of iodine through an iodine-enriched egg diet did not cause any specific excess-iodine toxicity.     

Flow cytometry of isolated nuclei prepared from 9L rat brain tumor.

Nuclei isolated by grinding 9L rat brain tumors gave a DNA distribution consisting of a 2C DNA peak due to noncycling normal cells and a bimodal distribution beginning at about 4C DNA due to the cycling tumor cells. Autoradiographic studies of nuclei from rats that received a pulse of 3H-TdR in vivo confirmed that the majority of proliferating cells were in the bimodal part of the distribution. The fraction of cells in S-phase determined from the DNA distributions was 15.3 per cent. This is consistent with a labeling index of 18 per cent determined from autoradiographs of tumor tissue and an S-phase fraction of 17 per cent determined from a fraction of labeled mitosis analysis (assuming that all of the 53 per cent noncycling cells are in G0). We also determined, by autoradiographic analysis of cells sorted from the tumor's mid-S-phase region, that only 58 per cent of these cells were labeled. We attribute this mostly to the presence of fluorescent debris from necrotic nuclei in this part of the distribution.     

Effect of pyridoxal administration on the contents of pyridoxal phosphate and gamma-aminobutyric acid in mouse brain

Many mice treated with a high single dose of PL died in convulsions. The convulsions were very similar to those induced with some anti B6 in several ways: (1) a long latent period occurs betfore convulsions; (2) PLP levels in brain decrease; (3) GABA levels in brain, especially in synaptosomal fraction, decrease. The possibility that a deranged GABA metabolism in nerve ending may be a major cause of the convulsions is discussed.