Reduction of increased polyamine levels in psoriatic lesions by retinoid and PUVA treatments

Treatment with an oral aromatie retinoid (etretinate) and with PUVA significantly reduced the elevated levels of putrescine, spermidine and spermlne in psoriatic lesions. Both treatments also significantly reduced the spermidine/spermine ratio, which is considered to be an indicator of proliferation activity. Although both regimens produced a roughly parallel reduction of epidermal polyamines the initial fall of putrescine was much more rapid in patients receiving retinoid. This may indicate that one of the primary targets of retinoids could be ornithine deearboxylase.     

Occlusal anomalies in 45, X/46,XX- and 46, Xi(Xq)-women (Turner syndrome)

Abstract— A total of 20 individuals with X-chromosome aberrations, 14 45,X/46,XX-women and six 46,Xi(Xq)-women, were examined for occlusal anomalies. The controls were first-degree woman relatives and population women. The results showed that the most common type of malocclusion in both study groups was lateral cross bite. Also distal molar occlusion, increased maxillary overjet and in 45,X/46,XX-women open bite was found. 45,X/46,XX-women's occlusion seems to be more affected than that of 46,Xi(Xq)-women. Compared to 45,X-women, the present study groups show milder expression of malocclusion. One might speculate that enamel genes of the X-chromosome are involved in occlusal development.     

An outbreak of pneumonia associated with S. pneumoniae at a military training facility in Finland in 2006

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a well‐known cause of community‐acquired bacterial pneumonia. The purpose of this study was to assess the cause and extent of the outbreak of pneumonia which occurred among military recruits following a 1‐week hard encampment in Finland. We also assessed the carriage rate and molecular characteristics of the S. pneumoniae isolates. All pneumococcal isolates were studied for antibiotic susceptibility, serotyped, genotyped by multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and the presence of pneumococcal rlrA pilus islet was detected. The genotype results defined by MLST corresponded with the serotype results. S. pneumoniae serotype 7F, ST2331, seemed to be associated with an outbreak of pneumonia and nasopharyngeal carriage among 43 military recruits. Of the 43 military recruits, five (12%) were hospitalized with pneumonia and two (40%) of them were positive for S. pneumoniae serotype 7F, ST2331 by blood culture. Eighteen (42%) of the 43 men were found to be positive for S. pneumoniae by nasopharyngeal culture, and nine (50%) of them carried pneumococcal serotype 7F, ST2331. The outbreak strain covered 55% of all the pneumococcal findings. Outbreaks of invasive pneumococcal disease seem to occur in a crowded environment such as a military training facility even among previously healthy young men.     

Retention of a fissure sealant with caries reduction in Finnish children after six months

abstract — The purpose of this study was to test the retention as well as the caries reduction potential of a fissure sealant under Finnish dietary conditions. The 150 children who served as subjects were selected on the basis of having at least one pair of sound permanent molars. Two hundred first molars, 43 premolars and 119 primary molars were sealed, while the respective tooth from the other side of the jaw was left untreated and used as the control. The findings after 6 months revealed that all 362 sealants persisted. Among the sealants of the first permanent molars, 99% were in excellent condition. All sealants of the permanent premolars and of the primary molars were excellent. Among the permanent control molars 43 (22%) showed carious fissures while among the sealed permanent molars, only 3 (1.5%) had carious fissures. This gives a 93% reduction of the fissure caries. Both the control and the sealed premolars were all sound. None of the sealed primary molars were decayed compared to 7.6% decayed on the control side.     

Dietary calcium intake and its relation to bone mineral density in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Objectives. To investigate calcium intake and its association with bone mineral density (BMD) and the type and extent of the disease in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
Setting. University hospital clinic.
Subjects. A total of 152 unselected IBD patients and 73 healthy controls.
Measurements. Dietary calcium intake was assessed with a food frequency questionnaire and BMD of the lumbar spina and proximal femur was measured.
Results. The IBD patients had lower dietary calcium intake (1034 [SD 493] mg) than the controls (1334 [514] mg, P <0.001). The difference was significant in the males (1047 [552] mg and 1575 [586] mg, respectively, P <0.001), but not in the females (1020 [422] mg and 1112 [303] mg). The dietary daily calcium intake was below 1000 mg in 53% of the patients and 27% of the controls ( P = 0.0004) and below 400 mg in 9.2% of the patients and none of the controls ( P =0.007). The calcium intake was not associated with the severity or the type of IBD. Seventy-one (47%) patients and eight (11%) controls avoided lactose in their diet ( P < 0.001). In the IBD patients, no association between the calcium intake and BMD was detected, whereas in the controls a positive correlation between the calcium intake and the BMD of the proximal femur was found.
Conclusions. Calcium intakes below the recommendations are seen more often in the IBD patients than in the healthy controls, but in the IBD patients the calcium intake is not associated with BMD in a cross-sectional study. A low-lactose diet is common among IBD patients. To reduce the risk of inadequate calcium intake, unnecessary dietary restrictions concerning, e.g. milk products, should be avoided for these patients.     

Effectiveness of fissure sealant 3 years after application

abstract – Findings 3 years after the application of a fissure sealant revealed that of the 166 sealed permanent first molars, 7.8 % of the sealants were missing or partly missing, 14.5 % were in fair condition, and 77.8 % had remained in good condition. During the 3-year test period, 7.8 % of the sealed permanent molars had become carious, while 63.3 % of the respective control teeth had decayed. The teeth which had sealants in good condition showed no caries, whereas 92.3 % of the teeth which had sealants missing or partly missing showed carious fissures. The net gain in the study was 104, and the percentage effectiveness of the method was 88.1 %. The treatment effect was found to be very significant when analyzed on the basis of homologous paired test-control teeth (P < 0.001). The sealing of pits and fissures was found to have a positive treatment effect on 60.2 % of the subjects when evaluated on an individual basis (0.1 < P < 0.05).     

Caries reduction over 5 years from a singie application of a fissure sealant

ABSTRACT – This paper is a continuation of three previously published papers giving a long-term clinical evaluation of an ultraviolet hght polymerizable fissure sealant method. The present findings revealed that of the 156 permanent teeth available for study 5 years after initiation, 59.6% retained the sealants in good condition, while 25.6% of the sealants were missing or partly missing. During the test period, 37 (32.2%) of the 115 sealed permanent first molars had become carious, while 92 (80.0%) of the respective paired controls had decayed. An analysis of the efficacy of the treatment on the test-control tooth pairs showed a net gain of 55 and a percentage effectiveness of 59.8%. The sealed teeth were found to be highly significantly less decayed than the respective controls ( P < 0.001). Of the individual subjects, 73.4% were found to have benefited from the treatment.