Illness-related behaviour and utilization of oral health services among adult city-dwellers in Burkina Faso: evidence from a household survey

Background  

In sub-Saharan Africa, the availability and accessibility of oral health services are seriously constrained and the provision of essential oral care is limited. Reports from the region show a very low utilization of oral health care services, and visits to dental-care facilities are mostly undertaken for symptomatic reasons. The objectives of the present study were to describe the prevalence of oral symptoms among adults in Ouagadougou, capital city of Burkina Faso and the use of oral health services and self-medication in response to these symptoms and to measure the associations between predisposing, enabling and needs factors and decisions to seek oral health care.     

Wine intake, ABO phenotype, and risk of ischemic heart disease and all-cause mortality: the Copenhagen Male Study—a 16-year follow-up

The association of alcohol intake with ischemic heart disease (IHD) and all-cause mortality may depend on ABO phenotype. We tested this hypothesis in a 16-year follow-up of 3,022 Caucasian men aged 53-74 years without overt cardiovascular disease. Potential risk factors and confounders included were ABO phenotypes, alcohol intake (wine, beer, and spirits), tobacco smoking history, leisure-time physical activity, social class, and age. During 16 years, 1985-1986 to end of 2001, 197 subjects (6.5%) died due to IHD, and 1,204 (39.8%) from all causes. Among non-O phenotypes (A, B, and AB) significantly fewer men who died due to IHD were wine consumers, 43.9% versus 55.7%, P < .01; with respect to all-cause mortality corresponding figures were 47.0% versus 60.1%, P < .001. No difference was found among men with phenotype O. Among men with phenotype A, compared to alcohol abstainers, in Cox analysis, the hazard ratio (HR) (95% confidence limit) for men drinking up to 8 beverages/wk was 0.5 (0.3-1.02), and among men consuming >8 beverages/wk (the highest quintile) the HR was 0.3 (0.2-0.8), P < .01. Among men with phenotype O, the association of wine intake with IHD mortality was slightly and not significantly U-shaped. The difference in the predictive role of wine intake between phenotype O and phenotype A men was supported in a statistical test for interaction. A similar association was found for all-cause mortality. The results suggest that the effect of wine intake on IHD and all-cause mortality among middle-aged and elderly men may depend on ABO phenotypes.     

EFFECT OF MODERATE CARBON-MONOXIDE EXPOSURE ON FETAL DEVELOPMENT

The effect of moderate carbon-monoxide exposure (180 p.p.m. and 90 p.p.m. carbon monoxide in atmospheric air) on fetal development was studied in rabbits. Exposure to 180 p.p.m. carbon monoxide (16-18% carboxyhæmoglobin) during pregnancy resulted in a 20% decrease of birth-weight, and a neonatal mortality of 35% as against 1% in the control group. Exposure to 90 p.p.m. carbon monoxide (8-9% carboxyhæmoglobin) had a less pronounced effect. In women there was a negative correlation between birth-weight and carboxyhæmoglobin concentration (p<0·05). The results indicate that carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke might be responsible for the reduced birth-weight of babies whose mothers smoked during pregnancy.     

Adrenal cortex and avitaminosis A: II. Complementary in vivo and in vitro studies on inhibition of corticoidogenesis in moderate deficiency in the rat. III. In vivo criterion for activity: glycemic response to ACTH]

II. We set up new experiments, both in vivo and in vitro, in order to explain the impaired adrenal response to stress, of vitamin A middly deficient, male Wistar rats. Injections of progesterone, 6 mg s.c. or i.p. every other day, did not improve the deficiency curse in our rats. In agreement with these results, we have found that, in vitro, the delta5-3beta hydroxysteroide dehydrogenase is not altered in deficient glands; we confirmed it histochemically. On the other hand, the 11beta and 18 hydroxylase activities are lowered in vitro (and presumably in vivo). When conditions of hyperactivity are established, the conversion of deoxycorticosterone (DOC) to 18 OH-DOC or to corticosterone is reduced and DOC accumulates in the incubation medium. III. When middly deficient intact rats are injected with ACTH i.p. (2UI p. 100 g of body weight), only some of them are found to have normoglycemia or hyperglycemia, 45 or 60 minutes after injection, as the controls do. Many deficient rats become hypoglycemic as the adrenalectomised animals do. We think that the changes in the glycemia after ACTH injection could be used to discriminate between the more or less deficient rats.     

Estrogenicity of butylparaben in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss exposed via food and water

The estrogenic effect of butylparaben was investigated in a rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss test system. Butylparaben was administered orally to sexually immature rainbow trout every second day for up to 10 days in doses between 4 and 74 mgkg(-1)2d(-1) and in the water at 35 and 201 microgl(-1) for 12 days. Plasma vitellogenin was measured before and during the exposures and the concentrations of butylparaben in liver and muscle were determined at the end of experiments. Increases in average plasma vitellogenin levels were seen at oral exposure to 9 mg butylparaben kg(-1)2d(-1). The ED50 values for increase in vitellogenin synthesis were 46, 29 and 10.5 mg butylparaben kg(-1)2d(-1), respectively, at day 3, 6 and 12. Exposure to 201 microg butylparaben l(-1) increased vitellogenin synthesis, but exposure to 35 microgl(-1) did not. Butylparaben showed little tendency to bioaccumulation in rainbow trout; less than 1 per thousand of the total amount of butylparaben administered orally at 51 mgkg(-1)2d(-1) over the 12 days experimental period was retained in liver at the end of the experiment. After 12 days exposure to 35 and 201 microg butylparaben l(-1), plasma concentrations were 9 and 183 microgl(-1), respectively, and for the fish exposed to 201 microgl(-1) there was a positive correlation between concentrations of vitellogenin and butylparaben in the plasma. On the assumption that butylparaben removed from the water phase during water exposure were taken up into the fish, butylparaben uptake rates in the fish exposed to 35 and 201 microg butylparaben l(-1) were 13 and 78 mgkg(-1)day(-1), respectively.     

Umbilical cord mercury concentration as biomarker of prenatal exposure to methylmercury

Biomarkers are often applied to assess prenatal exposure to methylmercury in research and surveillance. In a prospective study in the Faroe Islands, the main exposure biomarkers were the mercury concentrations in cord blood and maternal hair obtained at parturition. We have now supplemented these exposure biomarkers with mercury analyses of umbilical cord tissue from 447 births. In particular, when expressed in relation to the dry weight of the tissue, the cord mercury concentration correlated very well with that in cord blood. Structural equation model analysis showed that these two biomarkers have average total imprecision of about 30%, which is much higher than the laboratory error. The imprecision of the dry-weight-based concentration was lower than that of the wet-weight-based parameter, and it was intermediate between those of the cord blood and the hair biomarkers. In agreement with this finding, regression analyses showed that the dry-weight cord mercury concentration was almost as good a predictor of methylmercury-associated neuropsychologic deficits at 7 years of age as was the cord-blood mercury concentration. Cord mercury analysis can therefore be used as a valid measure of prenatal methylmercury exposure, but appropriate adjustment for the imprecision should be considered.     

Highly efficient and reliable chemically assisted enucleation method for handmade cloning in cattle

The purpose of the present study was to find an efficient and reliable chemically assisted procedure for enucleation related to the handmade cloning (HMC) technique. After in vitro maturation oocytes were incubated in 0.5 microg mL(-1) demecolcine for 2 h. Subsequently, zonae pellucidae were digested with pronase, and one-third of the cytoplasm connected to an extrusion cone was removed by hand using a microblade. The remaining two-thirds were used as recipients for HMC, and reconstructed and activated embryos were cultured for 7 days. The time-dependent manner of the development of extrusion cones, the efficiency (oriented bisection per oocyte; 94%), reliability (success per attempted enucleation; 98%), and the blastocyst per reconstructed embryo rates (48%) were measured. Ultrastructural analyses demonstrated that demecolcine treatment resulted in disoriented and haphazardly orientated microtubules. The general ultrastructure of the oocyte organelles, however, appeared to be unaltered by the treatments. Considering that no oocyte selection based on polar body presence was performed, this system seems to be more efficient and reliable than any other enucleation method. Moreover, expensive equipment (inverted fluorescence microscope) and a potentially harmful step (staining and ultraviolet illumination) can be eliminated from the HMC procedure without compromising the high in vitro efficiency.