Occurrence of periodontal bacteria in healthy children: a 2-year longitudinal study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the occurrence of specific periodontal bacteria in children and adolescents. METHODS: Ten putative periodontal bacteria were longitudinally examined in plaque and saliva samples from 119 periodontally healthy children (2-15 years old) using a polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS: Capnocytophaga ochracea, C. sputigena, and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans were frequently found in saliva, and tended to persist in saliva for the remainder of the study, whereas Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, and Prevotella intermedia were rarely detected. P. nigrescens was more frequently detected in plaque and its prevalence increased with age. Eikenella corrodens and Campylobacter rectus were sometimes detected in both plaque and saliva, while Tannerella forsythensis was occasionally detected in saliva. CONCLUSION: A. actinomycetemcomitans, C. ochracea, C. sputigena, P. nigrescens, C. rectus, and E. corrodens are common members of the oral microbial flora of healthy children, whereas P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, and T. denticola appear to be transient organisms.     

Analysis of different approaches to constructing perceptibility curves

Oral Radiology - To construct and analyze perceptibility curves (PCs) according to two different approaches. A test object was used to determine the exposures and exposure differences between the...     

Suicide in children and the prevention]

There have been studied on suicide in children and adolescents in Western countries, literature review was carried out for the forth coming needs of protective intervention for suicidal children in Japan. Suicide is very rare in children with gradual increase towards adolescents. Suicide in children has association with family history, psychiatric disorders of both children and parents, especially depression and addictive disorders, cognitive and emotional disturbance in children, demographic characteristics, family discord, family psychopathology and child abuse, accessibility of lethal suicide methods. Identification of risk factors as foci for intervention is important for suicide prevention. Although there are some programs for prevention, their theoretical bases have been hardly presented and their efficacy are not acceptable. Future evaluative research is essential, and at moment, network of medical, educational and child welfare professionals is important to support children and family at risk where there is much to do with psychiatry to take role.     

The association between the computed tomography findings, histologic features, and outcome of osteosarcoma of the jaw.

PURPOSE: The study goal was to clarify the association between computed tomography (CT) findings, histologic features, and outcome of osteosarcoma of the jaw (OSJ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The CT findings and histologic features of 10 patients with OSJ were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were histopathologically diagnosed to have OSJ. The points analyzed on the CT included the patterns of osteogenesis and any signs of bone destruction. The histologic types were classified according to the 1993 World Health Organization histologic classification of bone tumors. Furthermore, the histologic subtype was classified into the following 3 types: osteoblastic, chondroblastic, and fibroblastic. The grade of the tumor tissue was classified from I to IV. These were compared with the affected jaw site and the outcome of the patients with OSJ. RESULTS: All tumors were classified into the conventional central osteosarcoma histologically. Eight cases were osteoblastic, and 2 cases were chondroblastic. Grade I or II (4 of 5 patients are alive without disease) dominated in the maxilla, but in contrast, grade III or IV (4 of 5 patients are dead of disease or alive with disease) dominated in the mandible. A significant association was seen between the osteogenesis found on the CT images and the outcome, between the grade and the outcome, and between the outcome and the affected jaw site ( P = .02), respectively, in OSJ in this study. However, no significant association was observed between the CT findings and the histologic features in OSJ in this series. CONCLUSIONS: The osteogenesis on the CT, grade, and affected jaw site were considered to be prognostic factors in OSJ in this limited series.     

Contribution of the interleukin-1beta gene polymorphism in multiple system atrophy.

We studied genetic polymorphisms in the promoter region at position -511 of the interleukin (IL) -1beta gene (IL-1B-511) and at position -889 of the IL-1alpha gene (IL-1A-889), in 111 Japanese patients with multiple system atrophy (MSA) and 160 controls. The distribution of IL-1B-511 was significantly different between MSA patients and controls, because of the under-representation of patients with homozygotes for allele 2 (IL-1B-511*2), a high producer of IL-1beta. The frequency of IL-1A-889*2, a high secretor of IL-1alpha, was also decreased in MSA patients. Our findings suggest that abnormal cytokine expression may be implicated in the pathogenesis of MSA.     

High sustained virologic response rate after interferon monotherapy in Japanese hepatitis C patients with a low HCV RNA titer and/or HCV genotype 2. A prospective study

OBJECTIVE: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA titer and HCV genotype are considered to be major determinants of the outcome of interferon monotherapy. To clarify whether interferon monotherapy is really effective in patients with the appropriate viral parameters, we prospectively examined these parameters and treated the patients with interferon monotherapy. METHODS: Sixty-four patients with an HCV RNA titer <100 kIU/ml and/or HCV genotype 2 were enrolled in the study. Eighteen patients with an HCV RNA titer >100 kIU/ml and genotype 1 were also enrolled as controls. All patients were treated with 10 megaunits of interferon-alpha2b every day for 2 weeks and then 3 times a week for 24 weeks. RESULTS: Of the 64 patients with either HCV RNA <100 kIU/ml and/or genotype 2, seven dropped out from the study. Of the remaining 57 who completed the treatment, 48 (84%) showed a virologic sustained response. In contrast, only 4 of the 18 patients (22%) with HCV RNA >100 kIU/ml and genotype 1 were virologic sustained responders (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our current study showed that the patients with HCV RNA <100 kIU/ml and/or HCV genotype 2 are good candidates for interferon monotherapy.