Use of neuron-specific enolase to predict mild brain injury in motorcycle crash patients with maxillofacial fractures: A pilot study

Purpose

Mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common but accurate diagnosis and its clinical consequences have been a problem. Maxillofacial trauma does have an association with TBI. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) has been developed to evaluate neuronal damage. The objective of this study was to investigate the accuracy of NSE serum levels to detect mild brain injury of patients with sustained maxillofacial fractures during motor vehicle accidents.

Significance of immunohistochemistry biomarkers in prediction of malignant transformation of oral lichen planus: A systematic review

Background Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder with increased risk for malignant transformation. Biomarker validation is a pivotal step in moving newly discovered biomarkers towards clinical implementation. We performed a systematic review of studies on biomarkers related to OLP, wherein biomarkers have been described in at least two independent studies. Our aim was to determine whether any of these biomarkers might be promising in predicting the increased risk of malignant transformation of OLP.Material and Methods We searched the following databases until August 2021: PUBMED, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Due to high heterogeneity, a qualitative rather than quantitative assessment was conducted. Only proteins that consistently showed a significantly high level of expression in neoplastic tissues versus OLP in two or more publications were considered as promising markers.Results Initial database researches identified 1671, of which 24 articles were included in the final analysis. The most frequently reported proteins were p53, Bcl-2 and Ki-67, though there were controversies. PCNA and P21 were the only proteins that showed consistent evidence of clinical usefulness as cancer predictors to be considered as promising markers. Extensive methodological variations in the evaluation of expressions and statistical analyses of the included markers were observed, which hampered comparisons of the results.Conclusions Multiple levels of heterogeneity with a scarcity of high-quality studies were identified. PCNA and P21 were identified as promising predictive markers for evaluating the risk of malignant transformation of OLP, but they require further validation. The focus of future research on validation of predictive biomarkers of OLP should be considered as a high priority because it will accelerate the introduction of newly discovered markers into the clinical setting. Key words:Oral lichen planus, Immunohistochemistry, biomarkers, malignant transformation, PCNA, P21, p53, BCl-2.     

Quality of life following maxillofacial trauma in the elderly: a multicenter,prospective study

Background/aims

When facial trauma involves elderly patients, the possible presence of frailty and comorbidities in victims of trauma may worsen the posttraumatic symptoms and decrease quality of life. The aim of this multicenter study was to assess the quality of life following surgical or non-operative management of maxillofacial trauma in elderly patients.

Materials and methods

This cohort study was based on the administration of validated self-administered questionnaires to all the geriatric patients (70 years or more) with facial fractures from the involved maxillofacial surgical units across Europe, since 1st January 2019 to 31st June 2019. The following questionnaires were administered: SF36 questionnaire; the VFQ-25 questionnaire; the Oral Health Impact Profile – 14 (OHIP14). Outcome variables were VFQ-25 and OHIP-14 results.

Results

A total of 37 patients (14 male and 23 female patients) met the inclusion criteria and were included in the study. Elderly patients had an improvement in almost all the categories examined by the SF-36 questionnaire 6 months after trauma, with the only exception of a worsening as for role limitations due to physical health. An improvement was observed in almost all the categories at SF-36 test. A worsening of scores of OHIP-14 for all the considered dimensions in the whole study population was observed too.

Conclusions

Elderly patients following facial trauma experience significant emotional, social, and functional disturbances. We observed that emotional problems, energy/fatigue, social functioning, and generally social limitations played a great role in the decrease of QoL in elderly patients following maxillofacial trauma.

     

In vitro antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of newly synthesized N-alkyl and N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthroline derivatives

A previous study showed that the 1,10-phenanthroline skeleton was active in vitro against chloroquine-resistant and sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Based on this skeleton, 8 derivatives of N-alkyl and N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthrolines have been synthesized. This study was conducted to evaluate the in vitro antiplasmodial activity and cytotoxicity of these compounds. The in vitro antiplasmodial activity was tested on two strains of P. falciparum, FCR-3 chloroquine-resistant and D10 chloroquine-sensitive strains, while their cytotoxicity was tested on the Vero cell line. The parasite and cell growth were estimated by hypoxantine-[2,8-3H] uptake after 24- and 72-hour incubation with each compound tested. The control parasite or cell free from any compounds was referred to as having 100% growth. For this radioactive method, the IC50 value showing concentration inhibiting 50% of the parasite growth was determined by probit analysis. The results showed that the highest antiplasmodial activity was observed with (1)-N-benzyl-1,10-phenanthrolinium iodide with the IC50 0.18-0.45 microM, and the IC50 of the compound on Vero cells ranged from 2,582.30 to 7,057.71 microM. The cytotoxic/ antiplasmodial ratio indicates that this compound has high selectivity (10,993 +/- 330.79-38,965 +/- 6,888.27).     

The epidemiology and management of odontomas: a European multicenter study

Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery - Odontoma is the most commonly diagnosed odontogenic tumor of the oral cavity. The objective of the present study was to assess the demographic variables, patterns,...