A. P. F. Ehlers (Hrsg.), Fortführung von Arztpraxen. Praxisüberblick für Ärzte und Zahnärzte

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Dental insurance,service use and health outcomes in Australia: a systematic review

Private health insurance plays a key role in financing dental care in Australia. Having private dental insurance has been associated with higher levels of access to dental care, visiting for a check‐up and receiving a favourable pattern of services. Associations with better oral health have also been reported. In the absence of any existing review, this paper aims to systematically review the relationship between dental insurance and dental service use and/or oral health outcomes in Australia. A systematic search of online databases and subsequent sifting resulted in 36 publications, 33 of which were cross sectional and three cohort analyses. Dental service outcomes were more commonly reported than oral health outcomes. There was considerable heterogeneity in the outcome measures reported, for both service use and health outcomes. Overall, the majority of the evidence was from cross sectional studies and few studies reported analyses adjusted for confounding factors. The consolidated evidence points towards a positive association between dental insurance and dental visiting. Dentally insured adults are likely to have more regular access to dental care and have a more favourable pattern of service use than the uninsured. However, evidence of associations between dental insurance and oral health are mixed.     

The effect of leptin treatment on the development of obesity in overfed suckling Wistar rats

OBJECTIVE: To identify the role of hyperleptinaemia in mediating the effects of early postnatal overfeeding in a rat strain known to be prone to manipulations of the early environment which result in predispositions for obesity and associated metabolic and cardiovascular disturbance in later life. DESIGN: Wistar rats were reared in normal litters (NL, 10--12 pups) or small litters (SL, four pups) from postnatal day 3 and killed for determination of body composition and plasma leptin and insulin concentrations on day 7 or day 21 after having been treated with recombinant leptin (2 x 50 (pmol/g)/day) or saline from day 1. RESULTS: Rearing in SL doubled the body fat content and plasma leptin levels in comparison to NL pups by 21 days of age. Under leptin-treatment throughout suckling age, NL pups remained leptin responsive, ie the difference in body fat content was progressively reduced relative to the controls. Until 7 days of age, despite the body fat content of untreated SL pups being 2-fold higher and their plasma leptin level 7-fold higher than that of NL pups, leptin treatment caused the same percentage decreases in body fat in SL than in NL pups. But in contrast to NL pups, the SL pups became leptin resistant thereafter. Plasma insulin levels in 7-day-old leptin-treated SL pups were 3-fold higher than in untreated littermates and 5-fold higher than in the NL groups. CONCLUSION: Prophylactic leptin treatment does not prevent hyperinsulinaemia and excessive fat deposition in SL pups. On the other hand, selective hyperleptinaemia during suckling age does not trigger leptin resistance and obesity in NL pups. Rather than hyperleptinaemia per se, other factors associated with early postnatal overnutrition, for example, the concurrent hyperinsulinaemia, seem to play a pivotal role for the development of leptin-resistance and life-long obesity risk in SL rats.     

A monoclonal antibody-defined membrane antigen complex is required for neutrophil-neutrophil aggregation

We examined the aggregation responses of normal neutrophils treated with the murine monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 60.3. Addition of MoAb 60.3 to normal neutrophils produced dose-dependent inhibition of neutrophil aggregation in response to phorbol myristate acetate, zymosan-activated plasma, and N-formyl-methionylleucylphenylalanine. We conclude that the membrane glycoprotein complex recognized by MoAb 60.3--designated CDw18- -is required for neutrophil-neutrophil aggregation in vitro.     

Analysis of T-cell receptor beta chain (T beta) gene rearrangements demonstrates the monoclonal nature of T-cell chronic lymphoproliferative disorders

We investigated the rearrangement patterns of the gene coding for the beta chain of the T cell receptor (T beta) in 11 patients with T-cell derived chronic lymphoproliferative disorders, including T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) and T-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (T-CLL). We found that all five cases of T-PLL, and five of six cases of T-CLL, displayed T beta-gene rearrangements, clearly establishing their monoclonal nature. Clonality could not be determined in one case of T-CLL where the T beta gene was found unrearranged. Our results demonstrate that the majority of cases of both clinically aggressive T- PLL and clinically indolent T-CLL are monoclonal. These results suggest that the analysis of T beta gene rearrangements represents a valid tool for the differential diagnosis and clinical monitoring of T-cell derived chronic lymphoproliferative diseases.