Risk indicators of periodontal disease in older Thai adults

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to identify risk indicators for periodontitis using cross-sectional data from a group of older Thai adults. METHODS: The study group consisted of 2,005 individuals, aged 50 to 73 years old. They received detailed medical examinations and periodontal examinations including plaque score, probing depth, and clinical attachment level. These individuals were categorized into mild, moderate, or severe periodontitis if mean clinical attachment level was <2.5 mm, 2.5 to 3.9 mm, or > or = 4.0 mm, respectively. The degree of association between the severity of periodontitis and various independent variables was investigated using multinomial logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The percentage of subjects classified as mild, moderate, and severe periodontitis was 30.5, 53.6, and 15.9, respectively. The prevalence of severe periodontitis was higher in males and increased with age. In univariate analysis, older subjects, males, less educated persons, persons with lower income, persons with higher plaque score, smokers, drinkers, and diabetics were more likely to have both moderate and severe periodontitis. In multivariate analysis, males, less educated persons, persons with higher plaque score, and current smokers were more likely to have moderate periodontitis. Three additional factors including older age, former smokers, and diabetes significantly increased the odds for having severe periodontitis. Income, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and waist circumference had no significant effects on periodontal disease severity in the multivariate model. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that age, gender, education, oral hygiene status, smoking, and diabetes are significantly associated with periodontal disease severity in this study group. Longitudinal studies will establish whether these variables are true risk factors.     

Borassus flabellifer L. crude male flower extracts alleviate cisplatin-induced oxidative stress in rat kidney cells

Objective:To investigate the effects of Borassus flabellifer L. extracts on antioxidant activity, maintenance of cellular redox, and mitochondrial function in c...     

Cytotoxic 10-(indol-3-yl)-[13]cytochalasans from the fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chaetomium elatum</Emphasis> ChE01

Nine 10-(indol-3-yl)-[13]cytochalasans such as a new chaetoglobosin V (1); two new natural products, prochaetoglobosin III (2) and prochaetoglobosin III_ed (3); six known chaetoglobosins B-D (4–6), F (7), and G (8) and isochaetoglobosin D (9) in addition to two known sterols, 24(R)-5α,8α-epidioxyergosta-6–22-diene-3β-ol (10) and ergosterol (11), were isolated from the fungus Chaetomium elatum ChE01. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1–9 showed cytotoxicity against the human breast cancer (IC₅₀ 2.54–21.29 μM) and cholangiocarcinoma cell lines (IC₅₀ 3.41–86.95 μM).     

Factors associated with the market availability of systemic anti-infective products in Thailand (no. 743)

Background  Despite the fact that the market availability of medicines has been recognized as one of the most important components in the health-care system, its association with other factors is still in doubt. Objective  This study aimed at determining the factors associated with the number of trade names and products of systemic anti-infective medicines available for the market in Thailand. Methods  A cross-sectional study on the data from the Thai National List of Essential Medicines (Thai EML) 2008 and Thailand Index of Medical Specialties 2008 was undertaken. Results  Results showed a total of 702 trade names and 1,262 products from 137 generic drugs. Half of the products belonged to the classes of beta-lactam antibacterials (39%) and quinolone antibacterials (11.3%). The significant factors found were dosage forms of medicines, manufacturer types and category. The generic drugs that were prepared in more than one dosage form, produced by local manufacturers and categorized as essential medicines (EMs) would have a greater number of trade names and products than those done in one dosage form by foreign manufacturers and as non-EMs. Conclusion  There are at least three factors associated with the number of trade names and products of systemic anti-infective medicines, which include dosage forms of medicines, manufacturer types and EM category. These factors have involved the technical issue, private sector and Thai EML. One suggestion from this finding is to use the Thai EML as a means to control the market availability of systemic anti-infective products in the country.     

Phenethyl isothiocyanate induces apoptosis of cholangiocarcinoma cells through interruption of glutathione and mitochondrial pathway

Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) is a natural isothiocyanate with anticancer activity against many drug-resistant cancer cells. A body of evidence suggests that PEITC enhances oxidative stress leading to cancer cell death. Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is an aggressive bile duct cancer with resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs. PEITC rapidly kills KKU-100 CCA cells with concurrent induction of cellular glutathione depletion, superoxide formation, and loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential. The loss was associated with increased Bax and decreased Bcl-xl proteins followed by the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-9 and -3. Although TEMPOL could prevent superoxide formation, it did not prevent the disruption of glutathione (GSH) redox, mitochondrial dysfunction, and cell death. On the other hand, N-acetylcysteine could prevent the events and cell death. It was concluded that disruption of GSH redox but not superoxide formation may be an initial step leading to mitochondrial injury. PEITC could be a promising chemopreventive agent for CCA.     

A hemodynamically mediated mechanism of renal disease progression in severe glomerulonephritides or nephrosis

Glomerular endothelial cell (GEC) dysfunction due to oxidative stress and enhanced proinflammatory cytokines plays an important role in inducing proteinuria and procoagulant activity, namely blood hypercoagulability, hyperviscosity and local intravascular coagulation and altered hemorheology in NS. A dysfunctioning GEC releases fewer endothelium-dependent vasodilators but produces more vasoconstrictors. Severe intrarenal hemodynamic alteration associated with hemodynamic maladjustment with preferential constriction at the efferent arteriole has been uniquely implicated in severe GN and NS-FSGS. Such a constriction exerts three significant hemodynamic impacts. Proximal to the efferent arteriolar constriction, it induces (i) an overestimated GFR due to hyperfiltration and (ii) an elevated intraglomerular hydrostatic pressure. Distal to the efferent arteriolar constriction, it (iii) exaggeratedly reduces PTCF which correlates with the TIF.     

The effect of cigarette smoking on the severity of periodontal disease among older Thai adults

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to determine the effect of cigarette smoking on the severity of periodontitis in a cross-sectional study of older Thai adults. METHODS: The study population consisted of 1,960 subjects (age 50 to 73 years old). All subjects received both medical and dental examinations. Periodontal examinations, including plaque score, probing depth, and clinical attachment level, were done on all teeth present in two diagonal quadrants. Sociodemographic characteristics and smoking status were obtained by questionnaires. Multinomial logistic regression was used to address the association between cigarette consumption and mean clinical attachment level. RESULTS: In this study population, 48.7% were non-smokers, 14.4% were current smokers, and 36.9% were former smokers. Current smokers had higher percentage of sites with plaque, deeper mean probing depth, and greater mean clinical attachment level than former smokers and non-smokers. The odds of having moderate and severe periodontitis for current smokers were 1.7 and 4.8 times greater than non-smokers, respectively. Former smokers were 1.8 times more likely than non-smokers to have severe periodontitis. Quitting smoking reduced the odds of having periodontitis. For light smokers (<15 packyear), the odds for severe periodontitis reverted to the level of non-smokers when they had quit smoking for > or =10 years. For moderate and heavy smokers (> or =15 packyear), the odds of having severe periodontitis did not differ from those of non-smokers when they had quit smoking for > or =20 years. CONCLUSIONS: There was a strong association between cigarette smoking and the risk of periodontitis among older Thai adults. Quitting smoking appears to be beneficial to periodontal health.     

Effect of frequency of ventilator circuit changes (3 vs 7 days) on the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia in PICU

Purpose

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of ventilator circuit change on the rate of VAP in the PICU.

Methods

A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted at a university hospital PICU. Children (younger than 18 years) who received mechanical ventilation from December 2006 to November 2007 were randomly assigned to receive ventilator circuit changes every 3 or 7 days.

Results

Of 176 patients, 88 were assigned to receive ventilator circuit every 3 days and 88 patients had a change weekly. The rate of VAP was 13.9/1000 ventilator days for the 3-day circuit change (n = 12) vs 11.5/1000 ventilator days (n = 10) for the 7-day circuit change (odds ratio, 0.8; confidence interval, 0.3-1.9; P = .6). There was a trend toward decreased PICU stay and mortality rate in 7-day change group compared to 3-day change group but did not reach statistical significance. Furthermore, switching from a 3-day to a 7-day change policy could save costs up to US $22,000/y.

Conclusions

The 7-day ventilator circuit change did not contribute to increased rates of VAP in our PICU. Thus, it may be used as a guide to save workload and supply costs.