Thermal sensation and pain in oral lichen planus and lichenoid reaction

BACKGROUND: Our previous findings in oral lichen planus (OLP) and lichenoid reactions (LR) raised the question whether the histopathological changes observed in sensory and autonomic innervation produce oral sensory disorders. METHODS: Spontaneous pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Thermal pain thresholds were measured with a contact thermostimulator and mechanical pain thresholds with an electronic algometer. RESULTS: Patients with OLP reported a higher intensity of spontaneous pain than LR patients (P = 0.001). Even erosive LRs were relatively painless. No thermal or mechanical hyperalgesia was detected in oral lesions. Highest separate cold pain threshold was measured in lesions affected by intense Candida growth. CONCLUSION: Together with previous histological findings, the present data suggest that increased somatic innervation and sympathetic denervation do not promote clinical pain sensitivity or hyperalgesia in oral mucosa and that these sensory functions are not affected by OLP and LR. Candida growth may function as secondary irritant modulating the pain responses.     

Carboplatin and Etoposide (Care) Combined with Radiotherapy and Vincristine, Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide (Vac) In Limited Small Cell Lung Cancer a Phase Ii Study

Sixty-eight patients with limited small cell lung cancer were treated between April 1988 and October 1990 with combination carboplatin 450 mg/m² i.v. on day 1 and etoposide 100 mg/m² i.v. on days 1-3 (CarE) for two courses, followed by thoracic radiotherapy (TRT) 50 Gy, and then vincristine 1 mg/m², doxorubicin 50 mg/m² and cyclophosphamide 750 mg/m² on day one (VAC) for four courses. Prophylactic cranial irradiation (30 Gy) was given to patients with CR after completion of chemotherapy. Sixty patients (89%) achieved an objective response (40% complete responses). The median time to progression was 8.5 months and median survival time 12.1 months. Predicted one- and two-year survival was 50% and 12% respectively. Myelosuppression was the main toxicity, with WHO grade 3 and 4 leukopenia occurring in 32% of VAC courses. There were 5 (7%) treatment-related deaths, all of them during VAC. We conclude that the present combination is active in terms of response rate, but it did not demonstrate any superiority in survival. The frequency of haematological toxicity was substantial during VAC courses.     

Shear bond strength of Bis-GMA resin and methacrylated dendrimer resins on silanized titanium substrate.

OBJECTIVES: The study compared the bond strengths of three resins, Bis-GMA and two novel experimental methacrylated polyester dendrimer resins to grit-blasted titanium substrate with three silanes. METHODS: Two commercial dental silanes (ESPE Sil and Monobond-S) and an experimental 0.5 vol% 3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane were applied to grit-blasted Ti substrates. Light-polymerizable resins of Bis-GMA and methacrylated dendrimer were applied to the grit-blasted Ti substrate with polyethylene molds. The substrates with resin stubs (n = 10) were thermocycled (6000 cycles, 5-55 degrees C) or kept in water (37 degrees C, 24 h). The shear bond strength of the resin was measured at a crosshead speed of 1.0 mm min(-1). The surface examination, before and after silanization, was made with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The silane reactions on the Ti surface were monitored by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. RESULTS: Statistical analysis (ANOVA) showed that the highest shear bond for thermocycled samples was obtained for Bis-GMA with Monobond-S (19.4 MPa, standard deviation (SD) 7.1 MPa), and after water storage with a laboratory-made silane (26.4 MPa, SD 8.1 MPa). The dendrimer and Bis-GMA resins conferred equal bonding properties to grit-blasted titanium after thermocycling. The silane, resin type, and storage conditions significantly affected the shear bond strength (p < 0.001 for all factors). SEM images suggested a mainly cohesive type of bonding failure. SIGNIFICANCE: A dendrimer based resin and the Bis-GMA resin systems conferred statistically equivalent bonding properties to silica-coated Ti after thermocycling.     

Human skin fibroblasts induce anchorage-independent growth of HPV-16-DNA-immortalized cervical epithelial cells

Immortalized non-malignant cells do not grow in soft agarose. We found, however, that HPV-16-DNA-immortalized human uterine exocervical epithelial cells (HCE 16/3 cell line) formed colonies when co-cultured with human embryonic skin fibroblasts. This appeared to be mediated by diffusible growth factors, and direct cell-cell contacts were not required. HCE 16/3 cells from colonies remained unable to grow alone in soft agarose like the parental HCE 16/3 cells, indicating that only transient phenotypic changes without genetic alterations had occurred in the co-cultures. In a modified soft-agarose assay, HCE 16/3 cells grown as an underlying monolayer did not produce enough (transforming) growth factors which could confer an anchorage-independent phenotype to non-transformed fibroblasts. Lethally irradiated fibroblasts were able to stimulate DNA synthesis and proliferation of HCE 16/3 cells. Northern-blot analysis showed that HPV-16-DNA expression of the immortalized cells was not altered in the presence of fibroblasts. The expression of the IL-I gene in the immortalized cells, however, was augmented by the co-cultured fibroblasts compared with immortalized cells alone. In organotypic collagen raft co-cultures, in which epithelial cells were grown on top of a collagen gel containing fibroblasts, HCE 16/3 cells appeared to be chemotactic to fibroblasts and fibroblasts stimulated the growth of the immortalized epithelial cells. Our results suggest that fibroblasts may contribute to human epithelial carcinogenesis in vivo. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A new electromechanical method for measuring intraocular pressure

A new electromechanical method to measure intraocular pressure is presented. A light probe was made to collide with an eye (cornea or sclera) and to bounce back. The impact was registered by an acceleration sensor or the duration of contact with the eye was measured using the phenomenon of the electrical conductivity of biological objects. Laboratory experiments were carried out using pig eyes pressurized with water leveled to different heights. Preliminary clinical trials were carried out comparing the values obtained with those of the Goldmann applanation tonometer. The time of contact and the deceleration time decreases and the deceleration maximum increases in proportion with IOP. A new kind of tonometer can be constructed based on this principle. Measurement can be performed to cornea or sclera without an anesthetic drop. Further study is required to evaluate the accuracy and usefulness of this method.     

Preliminary biodistribution studies with a hybrid positron scanner

The hybrid positron scanner is a scanning device for imaging with short-lived positron-emitting radioisotopes. It is especially suitable for total body scanning studies. The scanner consists of two moveable parallel detectors, which are NaI(Tl)-crystals 40 cm long and 5 cm in diameter with a photomultiplier at each end. One detector is above and the other below the patient. The coordinate in the direction perpendicular to the crystal axis is determined from mechanical movement of the detectors. The coordinate along the crystal axis is determined from the signals of the photomultipliers.The specifications of the hybrid positron scanner are presented. Biodistribution studies in rabbits on the accumulation of ¹⁸F in the skeleton and on the ¹³NH₃ distribution in various organs are described. The regional pharmacokinetics of ¹¹C-ethanol in man after peroral administration of the tracer is presented.     

Clinical and serological diagnosis of nephropathia epidemica, the mild type of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome

The serological diagnosis of Nephropathia epidemica (NE), the mild European type of haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), was studied by means of an indirect immunofluorescent antibody technique (IFAT) in a large outbreak in Finland (morbidity 1.4/1000 population). Acetone-fixed sections of lung of bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) naturally infected with Puumala virus served as antigen. Altogether 65 patients were followed serologically for up to 20 months. Serological results obtained by NE-IFAT were compared with the clinical diagnosis of NE. Of the 41 clinically accepted NE cases 40 were serologically positive. Use of the NE-IFAT serological test allowed the diagnosis to be made in seven patients for whom the clinical data were not sufficient for diagnosing NE. The antibody response in NE often appears to be slower than that against Hantaan virus. Practical recommendations are given for the clinical and serological diagnosis of the milder forms of HFRS.     

Interference in dual-fluency tasks after anterior and posterior cerebral lesions.

According to earlier findings, letter fluency, repetitive pattern drawing and figural fluency are more sensitive to anterior than to posterior brain lesions. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that the percentage impairments from the single-task results are more pronounced after anterior than after posterior lesions when letter fluency is performed simultaneously with pattern drawing or figural fluency. The single-task results showed no significant differences between the patients with anterior and posterior lesions. The patients with anterior lesions, especially those with left-anterior lesions, had more pronounced percentage dual-task impairment than the other patients in letter fluency but not in pattern drawing or figural fluency. The results did not confirm the prediction that the average of the percentage decrements of the concurrent performances (the combined dual-task cost) or the larger of the two decrements would be more pronounced after anterior than posterior lesions. However, the patients with left-hemisphere lesions were inferior to those with right-hemisphere lesions in the single letter-fluency task, and the combined dual-task cost was more pronounced after left-hemisphere lesions.