Clinical safety of enamel matrix derivative (EMDOGAIN®) in the treatment of periodontal defects

Abstract The aim of the present clinical trial was to test tolerability during 2 treatments with EMDOGAIN® in a large number of patients. An open, controlled study design in 10 Swedish specialist clinics was chosen, with a test group of 107 patients treated with EMDOGAIN® in connection with periodontal surgery at 2 surgical test sites per patient. The procedures were performed 2 to 6 weeks apart on one-rooted teeth with at least 4 mm deep intraosseous lesions. A control group of 33 patients underwent flap surgery without EMDOGAIN® at I comparable site. In total 214 test and 33 control surgeries were performed. Serum samples were obtained from test patients for analysis of total and specific antibody levels. 10 of the patients had samples taken before and after the first surgery. 56 other samples were taken after one treatment with EMDOGAIN®, and 63 after 2 treatments. None of the samples, not even from allergy-prone patients after 2 treatments, indicated deviations from established baseline ranges. This indicates that the immunogenic potential of EMDOGAIN® is extremely low when applied in conjunction with periodontal surgery. Comparison between the test and control groups demonstrated the same type and frequency of post-surgical experiences, i.e., reactions caused by the surgical procedure itself. Clinical probing and radiographic evaluation was performed at baseline and 8 months postsurgery. About half of the patients (44 test and 21 control) were also evaluated after 3 years. There was a significant difference between the test and control results at 8 months post surgery. and this difference had increased further at the 3 year follow-up. The 2.5–3 mm increase in attachment and bone level after treatment with EMDOGAIN® was of the same magnitude as seen in the studies with split-mouth design aiming for lest of effectiveness of EMDOGAIN®.     

Plasma proteins in a standardised skin mini-erosion (II): effects of extraction pressure

Background  

A standardised suction technique has been used to sample plasma proteins in dermal interstitial fluid (IF) serially for 5 to 6 days from a suction-induced skin mini-erosion. Increased protein concentrations ascribed to inflammation have been shown from day 1 onward. In this study, we assessed the effect of two different extraction pressures on IF sample composition.     

The psychology behind doping in sport

Drugs and methods to improve physical performance among athletes have been used since the beginning of sport history, but the use of performance enhancing drugs has not always been regarded as cheating. In short, the motives for doping are improving and maintaining physical functioning, coping with the social/psychological pressures and striving for social and psychological goals, including economic benefits. Factors such as, “doping dilemma”, “win at all costs”, cost versus benefit, and the specificity of some specific doping agents, also play major roles. It seems that action on the athletes′ attitude about the achievement of physical improvement and creating effective methods to reveal the drug abuse, are two main ways in winning the struggle against doping.     

No evidence for an altered mRNA expression or protein level of haematopoietic cell phosphatase in CD34+ bone marrow progenitor cells or mature peripheral blood cells in polycythaemia vera

Abstract: Polycythaemia vera (PV) is a myeloproliferative disorder characterized by haematopoietic progenitor cells being hypersensitive to cytokines such as erythropoietin, interleukin-3, stem cell factor and insulin-like growth factor 1, which results in an increased production of mature blood cells. The pathogenetic cellular mechanism(s) behind this hypersensitivity to cytokines is unknown, but the number of cytokine receptors and the interaction between ligand and receptor are normal in PV. Interest has therefore focused on post-receptor mechanism(s). Haematopoietic cell phosphatase (HCP) is an intracellular tyrosine phosphatase that has been demonstrated to regulate proliferative signals negatively induced by the cytokines mentioned above. Moreover, motheaten mice that genetically lack HCP have an increased amount of erythroid progenitors that are hypersensitive to Epo, and patients with familial polycythaemia have been shown to exhibit a mutation of the Epo receptor gene that includes the docking site for HCP. We therefore studied mRNA expression of HCP in pure populations of CD34⁺ cells, granulocytes, platelets and lymphocytes from patients with PV, chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) or essential thrombocythemia (ET), as well as healthy controls. Using a polymerase chain reaction analysis employing specific primers for HCP, we failed to detect any abnormalities of HCP expression in PV in any of the cell populations that were examined. Moreover, HCP mRNA expression was similar in ET and CML compared to controls. Finally, Western blot analysis revealed a normal HCP protein content in PV granulocytes and platelets. We therefore conclude that neither an impaired expression of the HCP gene nor a defect in HCP protein synthesis is present in PV, and does not seem to play a role in the aetiology of this disorder.     

Shielded and unshielded geometries in the search for orphan sources.

A car-borne NaI(Tl) spectrometric system was used together with a 137Cs source to obtain realistic data in the search for unshielded and semi-shielded orphan sources. The potassium-stripped counts (PSC) method was used to estimate the influence by the shielding on the detection ability. A reduction of about 5% in the critical distance was obtained for the semi-shielded source. A curve fitting method was also developed and evaluated. Results from the curve fitting method showed inferior ability to find the source compared to the PSC method. However, it can be a useful complementary tool, for characterisation of the source shielding, and estimation of the distance from the road.     

Lewis Histo-Blood Group System and Associated Secretory Phenotypes

This review summarises present knowledge of the chemistry, immunology, genetics and clinical significance of antibodies in the Lewis and secretor histoblood group systems. Although red cell serology has laid the foundations for these systems, more recent advances have been made by studying Lewis and related glycoconjugates with monoclonal antibodies, determining structures by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy, identifying enzymes and their specificities, and identifying the genes by molecular biology. The expression of Lewis system antigens is dependent on Lewis and secretor loci. Fucosyltransferases coded by genes at these loci compete and interact with each other and with other transferases to determine an individual's Lewis and secretor phenotype. Exocrine epithelial cells, mostly of endodermal origin, synthesise the Lewis antigens which, as plasma glycolipids, are secondarily acquired by cells of the peripheral circulation. Phenotyping red cells is often regarded as a simple way of determining the Lewis and sometimes the secretor status of an individual; however, the red cell phenotype is influenced by many factors and may not necessarily reflect someone's Lewis and secretor genotypes. Two main red cell Lewis groups are usually found, Lewis negative and Lewis positive. In Lewis-negative individuals, the secretor genotype does not affect the Lewis phenotype, but in Lewis-positive individuals, the non-secretor genotype generates the Le(a+b–) phenotype, the secretor genotype causes the Le(a–b+) phenotype, and the partial secretor genotype gives rise to the Le(a+b+) phenotype.     

Natural killer cell activity and CSF monoamine metabolites in suicide attempters

The aim of this study was to investigate markers of serotonin and immune function in suicidal patients. Cytotoxic activity of natural killer cells (NK) and CD16 lymphocytes were studied in 28 suicide attempters and 26 healthy controls, and related in patients to 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Patients with CSF 5-HIAA below the median had significantly lower NK cell activity than other patients. CD16 cell frequency was significantly lower in patients than in controls, and patients also tended to have lower NK cell cytotoxicity than healthy controls. There were no statistically significant correlations between 4-hydroxy-3methoxyphenyl glycol (HMPG), homovanillic acid (HVA), CSF cortisol and NK cell activity. The results support the hypothesis of compromised immune function in suicidal patients with evidence of disordered serotonin function.