Stathmin! An immunohistochemical analysis of the novel marker in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Oral Leukoplakia.

Background: Stathmin is an intracellular phosphoprotein that controls the microtubule dynamics by further regulating proper attachment and alignment of chromosomes in a dividing cell. Thus, any mutation or aberrantly expressed protein that reduces the fidelity of spindle assembly will enhance chromosomal instability contributing to aneuploidy. Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma is an extensively studied malignancy that occurs due to accumulated genetic changes due to carcinogens. The current study is done to evaluate the stathmin role and its expression in OSCC and Oral epithelial dysplasia (OED). Objective: The aim of the present study is to evaluate the role of stathmin in OSCC and Oral dysplasia and also to correlate the expression of Stathmin with respect to the different histopathological grades of OED and OSCC. Materials and Methods: 30 neutral buffered formalin fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues of Oral Leukoplakia/OED and 30 FFPE tissues of OSCC were subjected to immunohistochemistry with stathmin antibody. Five fields of each case with 300 cells were examined and a mean percentage of positive–stained slides were determined. The percentages were recorded accordingly with their respective histological grades. The results were analysed statistically. Results: The results of the present study demonstrated higher mean values of stathmin in tissues with OSCC (2.50) compared to leukoplakia (2.11) and normal tissues (0.00) with a high level of statistical significance (0.0001). There is also an increase in the percentage levels of stathmin with increase in the histological grade of differentiation in OSCC as well as leukoplakia. Conclusion: The present study found a statistical correlation between increased grades of the disease with expression levels of stathmin. This confirms that stathmin expression can contribute to disease progression and that stathmin might have a potential role as an early diagnostic biomarker and can be a therapeutic target for OSCC.     

The effect of electronic job aid assisted one‐to‐one counselling to support exclusive breastfeeding among 0–5‐month‐old infants in rural Bangladesh

Exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) for the first 6 months has established benefits, yet had slow improvements globally. Little is known about electronic job aid‐assisted counselling to support EBF. As a secondary outcome of a cluster randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh, we assessed the effect of electronic job aid‐supported nutrition counselling and practical demonstration on EBF. We randomized pregnant women to one of five study arms in the trial and followed mother–child dyads until 2 years of age. Community health workers (CHWs) provided breastfeeding counselling with or without prenatal and complementary nutrient supplements in all four intervention arms. The comparison arm continued with the usual practice where mothers could receive nutrition counselling at routine antenatal and postnatal care, and during careseeking for childhood illnesses. We assessed breastfeeding indicators at birth and monthly until the child was 6 months old, in both intervention and comparison arms. To evaluate the effect of nutrition counselling on breastfeeding, we combined all four intervention arms and compared them with the comparison arm. Intervention newborns had half the risk (relative risk [RR]: 0.54, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39, 0.76) of receiving prelacteal feeds than those in the comparison arm. EBF declined steeply in the comparison arm after 3 months of age. EBF was 16% higher in the intervention than the comparison arm at 4 months (RR: 1.16, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.23) and 22% higher at 5 months of age (RR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.12, 1.33). Maternal background and household characteristics did not modify the intervention effect, and we observed no difference in EBF among caesarean versus vaginal births. Breastfeeding counselling and practical demonstration using an electronic job aid by CHWs are promising interventions to improve EBF and are scalable into existing community‐based programmes.     

Elevated telomere-telomere recombination in WRN-deficient, telomere dysfunctional cells promotes escape from senescence and engagement of the ALT pathway

Werner Syndrome (WS) is characterized by premature aging, genomic instability, and cancer. The combined impact of WRN helicase deficiency and limiting telomere reserves is central to disease pathogenesis. Here, we report that cells doubly deficient for telomerase and WRN helicase show chromosomal aberrations and elevated recombination rates between telomeres of sister chromatids. Somatic reconstitution of WRN function, but not a WRN helicase-deficient mutant, abolished telomere sister chromatid exchange (T-SCE), indicating that WRN normally represses T-SCEs. Elevated T-SCE was associated with greater immortalization potential and resultant tumors maintained telomeres via the alternative lengthening of telomere (ALT) pathway. We propose that the increased incidence of chromosomal instability and cancer in WS relates in part to aberrant recombinations between sister chromatids at telomeres, which facilitates the activation of ALT and engenders cancer-relevant chromosomal aberrations and tumor formation.     

Nanotechnology for colorectal cancer detection and treatment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the United States. Across the globe, people in the age group older than 50 are at a higher risk of CRC. Genetic and environmental risk factors play a significant role in the development of CRC. If detected early, CRC is preventable and treatable. Currently, available screening methods and therapies for CRC treatment reduce the incidence rate among the population, but the micrometastasis of cancer may lead to recurrence. Therefore, the challenge is to develop an alternative therapy to overcome this complication. Nanotechnology plays a vital role in cancer treatment and offers targeted chemotherapies directly and selectively to cancer cells, with enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Additionally, nanotechnology elevates the chances of patient survival in comparison to traditional chemotherapies. The potential of nanoparticles includes that they may be used simultaneously for diagnosis and treatment. These exciting properties of nanoparticles have enticed researchers worldwide to unveil their use in early CRC detection and as effective treatment. This review discusses contemporary methods of CRC screening and therapies for CRC treatment, while the primary focus is on the theranostic approach of nanotechnology in CRC treatment and its prospects. In addition, this review aims to provide knowledge on the advancement of nanotechnology in CRC and as a starting point for researchers to think about new therapeutic approaches using nanotechnology.     

Demystifying the mist: Sources of microbial bioload in dental aerosols

The risk of transmitting airborne pathogens is an important consideration in dentistry and has acquired special significance in the context of recent respiratory disease epidemics. The purpose of this review, therefore, is to examine (1) what is currently known regarding the physics of aerosol creation, (2) the types of environmental contaminants generated by dental procedures, (3) the nature, quantity, and sources of microbiota in these contaminants and (4) the risk of disease transmission from patients to dental healthcare workers. Most dental procedures that use ultrasonics, handpieces, air-water syringes, and lasers generate sprays, a fraction of which are aerosolized. The vast heterogeneity in the types of airborne samples collected (spatter, settled aerosol, or harvested air), the presence and type of at-source aerosol reduction methods (high-volume evacuators, low volume suction, or none), the methods of microbial sampling (petri dishes with solid media, filter paper discs, air harvesters, and liquid transport media) and assessment of microbial bioload (growth conditions, time of growth, specificity of microbial characterization) are barriers to drawing robust conclusions. For example, although several studies have reported the presence of microorganisms in aerosols generated by ultrasonic scalers and high-speed turbines, the specific types of organisms or their source is not as well studied. This paucity of data does not allow for definitive conclusions to be drawn regarding saliva as a major source of airborne microorganisms during aerosol generating dental procedures. Well-controlled, large-scale, multi center studies using atraumatic air harvesters, open-ended methods for microbial characterization and integrated data modeling are urgently needed to characterize the microbial constituents of aerosols created during dental procedures and to estimate time and extent of spread of these infectious agents.     

The structures of the colonic mucosa-associated and luminal microbial communities are distinct and differentially affected by a prolonged murine stressor

The commensal microbiota of the human gastrointestinal tract live in a largely stable community structure, assisting in host physiological and immunological functions. Changes to this structure can be injurious to the health of the host, a concept termed dysbiosis. Psychological stress is a factor that has been implicated in causing dysbiosis, and studies performed by our lab have shown that restraint stress can indeed shift the cecal microbiota structure as well as increase the severity of a colonic infection caused by Citrobacter rodentium. However, this study, like many others, have focused on fecal contents when examining the effect of dysbiosis-causing stimuli (e.g. psychological stress) upon the microbiota. Since the mucosa-associated microbiota have unique properties and functions that can act upon the host, it is important to understand how stressor exposure might affect this niche of bacteria. To begin to understand whether chronic restraint stress changes the mucosa-associated and/or luminal microbiota mice underwent 7 16-hour cycles of restraint stress, and the microbiota of both colonic tissue and fecal contents were analyzed by sequencing using next-gen bacterial tag-encoded FLX amplicon technology (bTEFAP) pyrosequencing. Both control and stress groups had significantly different mucosa-associated and luminal microbiota communities, highlighting the importance of focusing gastrointestinal community structure analysis by microbial niche. Furthermore, restraint stress was able to disrupt both the mucosa-associated and luminally-associated colonic microbiota by shifting the relative abundances of multiple groups of bacteria. Among these changes, there was a significant reduction in the immunomodulatory commensal genus Lactobacillus associated with colonic mucosa. The relative abundance of Lactobacillus spp. was not affected in the lumen. These results indicate that stressor-exposure can have distinct effects upon the colonic microbiota situated at the mucosal epithelium in comparison to the luminal-associated microbiota.     

General genetic and acquired risk factors,and prevalence of peri‐implant diseases – Consensus report of working group 1

For decades, oral implants have been used successfully for the replacement of missing teeth. Nevertheless, peri‐implant diseases have become an increasingly important issue in daily practice. In this working group, the prevalence of peri‐implant mucositis and peri‐implantitis, as well as different general risk factors and their impact on the onset and progression of peri‐implant diseases, were discussed based on reviews reflecting the current state of evidence. The influence of smoking on the peri‐implant bone‐healing process and its association with peri‐implantitis has been explored in the current literature, demonstrating that smoking is an important risk indicator for the development of peri‐implantitis and implant loss. Compared with non‐smokers, smokers have a higher potential for pathological peri‐implant bone loss, which is also influenced by poor oral hygiene. Despite the fact that a growing number of genetic polymorphisms have been identified and related to periodontal diseases, there are still no genetic patterns that could act as adjuncts to clinical diagnostics in order to identify patients at higher risk of peri‐implant diseases. Long‐term medications, such as bisphosphonate therapy (> 3 years), may have an impact on implant loss. A higher incidence of implant failure was reported in patients using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in anti‐depression therapy. Alcoholism (defined as more than 5 units a day) has been associated with implant loss in retrospective and case–control studies, as well as in animal studies.     

Involuntary Cultural Change and Mental Health Status Among Indigenous Groups: A Synthesis of Existing Literature

Indigenous groups throughout the world have experienced social exclusion and have been subjected to marginalization. Globalization has resulted in significant changes in traditional lifestyles and developmental programs have not been successful in integrating Indigenous people into communities with non-Indigenous people. Although there is substantial research on acculturation and adaptation within the field of cross-cultural psychology, there are few narrative reviews of this literature. The present paper provides such a review and examines the mental health concerns of Indigenous groups undergoing acculturation. We address the consequences of involuntary cultural change and review studies that have been conducted on mental health issues, psychosomatic symptoms, substance use, and suicidality in Indigenous groups. We conclude by offering suggestions to mitigate mental health problems. Directions for future research on the acculturation of Indigenous groups are also provided.