Scientific frontiers: emerging technologies for salivary diagnostics

Saliva, a biofluid historically well-studied biochemically and physiologically, has entered the post-genomic 'omics' era, where its proteomic, genomic, and microbiome constituents have been comprehensively deciphered. The translational path of these salivary constituents has begun toward a variety of personalized individual medical applications, including early detection of cancer. Salivary diagnostics is a late-comer, but it is catching up where dedicated resources, like the Salivaomics Knowledge Base (SKB), now have taken center stage in the dissemination of the diagnostic potentials of salivary biomarkers and other translational and clinical utilities.     

Most Breast Cancer Screening Trials Have a Flawed Design

In the present article, we discuss that why most breast cancer screening trials have a flawed origin. We suggest some solutions to correct these flaws so that more valid and reliable screening trials can be conducted in the future.     

Centchroman Regresses Mastalgia: A Randomized Comparison with Danazol

We conducted a randomized trial to evaluate effectiveness of Centchroman in control of mastalgia and compared it with Danazol. Research Question- Is proportion of pain relief achieved by Centchroman similar to or inferior to that achieved by Danazol? In a randomized controlled trial of Centchroman vs. Danazol in mastalgia, 81 patients with mastalgia were studied. Thirty-nine patients were randomized to Danazol arm and 42 in Centchroman arm. The treatment was given for 12 weeks, followed by observation for 12 weeks. The pain was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0–10. At 12 weeks 89.7% women achieved reduction in pain score to ≤3 in Centchroman group (pvalue 0.001). In Danazol group 69.44% women achieved reduction in pain score to ≤ 3 (p = 0.001). Three months after stopping therapy, Centchroman was more effective in pain score reduction at 24 weeks as compared to Danazol (p = 0.019). Centchroman is an effective, safe and inexpensive alternative to Danazol for treatment of mastalgia.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12262-010-0216-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Noninsulin-dependent, type II diabetes mellitus-related dermatoses: part II

Cutaneous complications of noninsulin-dependent, type II diabetes mellitus are reviewed, including diabetic dermopathy, necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum, diabetic bullae (bullosis diabeticorum), certain acquired perforating dermatoses, diabetic thick skin, scleredema adultorum, Dupuytren's contractures, certain xanthomas, carotenoderma, rubeosis faciei, and acanthosis nigricans.     

Vision Loss following Intraocular Listeriosis Associated with Contaminated Cantaloupe

Intraocular listeriosis, a rare manifestation of invasive listeriosis, has a poor visual prognosis. We report an intraocular listeriosis case related to a multistate outbreak associated with contaminated cantaloupe. Increasing awareness of rare listeriosis presentations might facilitate timely diagnosis and treatment, and case reporting can clarify medical and epidemiologic aspects of listeriosis.Key words: Disease outbreaks, Listeria monocytogenes, Endophthalmitis, Eye infections, Cucumis melo     

Clinical correlates to the goniodysgensis among juvenile-onset primary open-angle glaucoma patients

Objectives

To evaluate gonioscopic features and relate them to clinical characteristics in eyes with juvenile-onset primary open-angle glaucoma (JOAG).

Methods

Goniophotographs of unrelated JOAG patients, presenting between 10–40 years of age, were evaluated and compared with 60 healthy subjects in the same age group. Age of onset, family history of glaucoma, highest untreated IOP and visual field defect (mean deviation) were analyzed and correlated with the gonioscopic features among JOAG patients.

Results

Of 126 patients included in the study, 44 (34 %) had a normal open angle (group 1), while 82 (66 %) had developmental anomalies (group 2). Developmental anomalies of the angle were classified as: high iris insertion with or without prominent iris processes (n?=?42), a featureless angle (n?=?30), and those with prominent iris processes alone (n?=?10). There was no difference in age of onset (group 1, 30.5?±?7 years and group 2, 26.3?±?9.6 years) (p?=?0.07) or the untreated IOP at presentation (group 1; 36?±?12.5 mmHg and group 2, 38.8?±?12.3 mmHg; p?=?0.37) between the groups. However, those with angle anomalies presented with a greater visual field defect (MD ?23.5?±?10.5 vs ?14.8?±?13 dB; p?=?0.02) compared to those with normal appearing angle.

Conclusions

While two thirds of JOAG patients present with developmental anomalies of the angle, one third have normal appearing angles. High insertion of the iris is the most common form of gonio dysgenesis observed. Those with angle dysgenesis are more likely to present with severe disease.