Sugars and beyond. The role of sugars and the other nutrients and their potential impact on caries

The traditional concept of caries as a multifactorial transmittable and infectious disease has been challenged. Novel conceptual ideas have come to add to the complexity of this highly prevalent disease worldwide. Current etiological understanding of the disease has emphasized the pivotal role of sugars in caries. In fact, current definition points toward an ecological disease caused by the commensal microbiota that under ecological imbalances, mainly due to high and or frequent sugars consumption, creates a state of dysbiosis in the dental biofilm. This modern conceptual idea, however, tends to underrate a key issue. As humans are omnivore and consume a mix diet composed by a multitude of substances, the role of the diet in caries must not be restricted only to the presence of fermentable sugars. This review explores the contribution of other food components, ubiquitous to the diet, mostly as potentially protective factors. Anticaries nutrients might determine an environmental change, affecting the ecology of the oral microbiome and partially mitigating the effect of sugars. Understanding the function of the food usually consumed by the people will contribute new knowledge on the mechanisms associated with the onset of caries, on new caries risk variables and on potential novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of the disease.     

Detection of cytomegalovirus in blood donors by the polymerase chain reaction

A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was developed and optimized to detect cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the blood of 86 normal donors who had originally tested seropositive for CMV. Evidence of previous or current infection with CMV was determined by rescreening of the blood for CMV antibodies and by detecting the presence of infectious virus in the white cells by cell culture. DNA was extracted from the blood of donors by a manual or an automated method and amplified by PCR using primers from the major immediate early gene of CMV DNA. The amplified product was detected by visualization of a fluorescent 435-base pair DNA band in an electrophoretic agarose gel after ethidium bromide staining and confirmed by slot-blot DNA hybridization using an oligonucleotide probe with complementarity for the major immediate early gene. Seven (8%) of the 86 donors were positive for CMV DNA in both fluorescence and hybridization studies. These donors were also antibody positive. While 74 (86%) of the 86 donors were positive for the presence of CMV antibodies in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, none was positive for virus in cell culture. PCR has the potential to be an effective and reliable procedure for the detection of CMV DNA in donor blood, but further study is required for this technique to be used for diagnostic or routine screening purposes.     

Prestorage removal of Yersinia enterocolitica from red cells with white cell-reduction filters

Prestorage removal of phagocytic white cells (WBCs) may increase the survivability of contaminating bacteria in units of stored red cells. Fourteen units of whole blood were inoculated with 65 colony-forming units per mL of Yersinia enterocolitica (serotype O:3) and processed into AS-3-preserved red cells. Five red cell units were filtered with a prototype third-generation filter and five red cell units with a second generation filter. WBC reduction was performed on the day of collection. Four red cell units were not filtered. Three noninoculated whole blood units served as negative controls; two were filtered (one with each type of WBC-reduction filter) and one remained unfiltered. All red cell units were then stored at 4 degrees C for 42 days. One of the five filtered red cell units (20%) in each filter group supported growth of Y. enterocolitica. In contrast, 4 (100%) of 4 unfiltered inoculated red cell units had growth (p = 0.04). Overall, 2 (20%) of 10 units of WBC-reduced red cells supported the growth of Y. enterocolitica, as compared to 100 percent of unfiltered red cell units after inoculation (p = 0.015). Bacterial contamination was not detected in any of the three noninoculated units. It can be concluded that prestorage WBC filtration significantly reduces the potential for growth of Y. enterocolitica in red cells stored at 4 degrees C for 42 days.     

Mood states in the volunteer blood donor

Mood changes across time were evaluated as they applied to the process of volunteer blood donation. Measures of mood (from the Mood Adjective Check List) were taken before and at three different intervals after blood donations by 245 college students. Anxiety scores were significantly higher before blood donation, and elation scores showed a significant increase following donation. Veteran donors experienced significantly less discomfort before donation. These findings imply that blood donations can be viewed as an "opponent-affective process," in which initial, mildly aversive feelings lead to positive aftereffects. Current findings suggest that blood donation can be explained, in part, by a self-serving, addictive process.     

CD34+ progenitors and colony-forming units-granulocyte macrophage are recruited during large-volume leukapheresis and concentrated by counterflow centrifugal elutriation

The recruitment of mononuclear cells (MNCs), colony-forming units- granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM), lymphocyte subpopulations, and CD34+ progenitor cells was studied during large-volume (15-25 L blood processed) peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) harvests. Normal donors (n = 13) underwent a 4-hour leukapheresis designed to maximize PBSC yield (blood flow rate, 85 mL/min). Mean (+/− SD) volume processed was 17.7 +/− 0.4 L, and yield was 2.4 +/− 0.7 × 10(10) white cells containing 99 percent MNCs and 1.3 mL red cells per L of blood processed. Postapheresis hematocrit, platelets, and MNCs were reduced from preapheresis values by 7, 35, and 23 percent, respectively (p < 0.05). In nine donors, the component was collected as four 1-hour samples, and culturing of CFU-GM and flow cytometric analysis of lymphocyte subpopulations and CD34+/HLA-DR+ cells were done in individual samples. Total CFU-GM were 2.4 +/− 1.4 × 10(6) (3.0 +/− 1.8 × 10(4) CFU-GM/kg) and lymphocytes were 20.8 × 10(9), with 75 percent CD3+ T cells, 10 percent CD19/CD20+ B cells, and 17 percent natural killer cells. A more than twofold increase in CFU-GM and CD34+ cells was noted over the course of the 4-hour procedure (p < 0.05). In four donors, the leukapheresis component underwent counterflow centrifugal elutriation (CCE), which separated it into four fractions in an attempt to concentrate CD34+ and CFU-GM progenitors and to deplete T-lymphocytes on a large scale. There was a 1.8-, 4.6-, 3.9-, and 0.32-fold increase in CFU-GM in the four fractions relative to the unseparated component.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Behaviours of students who have repeated urinary tract infections

To determine the behaviours of students and the variables that have an effect on repeated urinary tract infections (UTIs). A cross‐sectional study was implemented on elementary and high school students in Izmir, Turkey. The sample consisted of 318 volunteers from the 6–17 years of age students. Written consent was obtained from parents and institutions. The data were collected through sociodemographic characteristics and a behavioural assessment semi‐structured design questionnaire. The data for closed‐ended questions were evaluated for frequencies, variance, Chi‐square and logistic regression. Content analysis was used for examining the open‐ended questions. Students' mean age was 10·28 ± 2·27 (6–15 years of age), 68·2% were females and 70·4% were in elementary school. Of the students, 26·1% avoided using school toilets, 70·4% held urine too long and 30·2% cleaned the perineum from back‐to‐front. In the prediction of the factors that affect students' behaviours with ages, it was determined that ‘washed the genital area after defecation/urination’, ‘method of cleaning the perineum’, ‘urination status at school’, ‘enuresis’, ‘frequency of changing underwear’ and ‘washing hands before going to the toilet’ increased linearly with age (p < 0·05). Most of the students may have negative perceptions about toilet habits. Students' behaviours are important for improving social well‐being. Health professionals and teachers serve a key role in the psychosocial development of students. They can develop individualized health care plans and help parents and students to understand strategies that can prevent UTIs.