Immediate root canal disinfection with ultraviolet light: an ex vivo feasibility study.

OBJECTIVE: The study was designed to test application of ultraviolet light to root canal walls, as a mean of complementary immediate disinfection after the use of sodium hypochlorite. STUDY DESIGN: Root canals were infected ex vivo with Enterococcus faecalis for 48 hours. Non-attached bacteria were washed away, and the remaining attached bacteria were subjected to disinfection, with 5% sodium hypochlorite alone or followed by exposure to ultraviolet light (254 nm, 300 mJ/cm(2)). Root canals were then tested for remaining viable bacteria. Canals were obturated and tested again after 14 days. RESULTS: Sodium hypochlorite alone achieved negative cultures in only 47% of the cases, but 96% was achieved with sodium hypochlorite followed by ultraviolet light (P < .001). This status was also maintained after 14 days. CONCLUSIONS: Illumination of root canals with ultraviolet light may be an effective supplementary means to achieve immediate disinfection of infected root canals.     

Use of antibiotic and analgesic drugs during lactation.

During lactation, multiple situations can arise that require maternal pharmacological treatment. Because of the many health advantages of human milk to infants, breast feeding should be interrupted only when the needed drug might be harmful to the nursing child and exposure via the breast milk will be sufficient to pose a risk. Since the majority of drugs have not been shown to cause adverse effects when used during lactation, and even temporary interruption of breast feeding can be difficult for the nursing dyad, decisions regarding maternal medication use during breast feeding should be based on accurate and up-to-date information. This article reviews available data on the most commonly used antibiotics and analgesics. The use of most antibiotics is considered compatible with breast feeding. Penicillins, aminopenicillins, clavulanic acid, cephalosporins, macrolides and metronidazole at dosages at the low end of the recommended dosage range are considered appropriate for use for lactating women. Fluoroquinolones should not be administered as first-line treatment, but if they are indicated, breast feeding should not be interrupted because the risk of adverse effects is low and the risks are justified. Paracetamol (acetaminophen), low-dose aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) [up to 100 mg/day] and short-term treatment with NSAIDs, codeine, morphine and propoxyphene are considered compatible with breast feeding. Safer alternatives should be considered instead of dipyrone, aspirin at a dosage >100 mg/day and pethidine (meperidine). In the light of the many safe alternatives for pain control, breast-feeding mothers should not be allowed to experience pain or be made to feel that they must choose between analgesia and breast feeding.     

Five-year-old girls' ideas about dieting are predicted by their mothers' dieting

OBJECTIVE: To explore 5-year-old girls' ideas, concepts, and beliefs about dieting. DESIGN: Girls were asked to define dieting, to describe the behaviors dieting comprised, and were queried about links between dieting, weight control, and body shape. Parents completed questionnaires addressing family health history, demographics, and issues related to food, dieting, and weight control. SUBJECTS/SETTING: Participants were 197 girls aged 5 years and their parents. All girls lived with both biological parents, and were without food allergies or chronic medical problems. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: For 5 open-ended questions related to dieting, girls were categorized as either having or not having ideas about dieting. These ideas, concepts, and beliefs were categorized, and logistic regression examined predictors of girls' ideas about dieting. RESULTS: Depending on the question, from 34% to 65% of girls aged 5 years had ideas about dieting. Compared to girls whose mothers did not diet, girls whose mothers reported current or recent dieting were more than twice as likely to have ideas about dieting, suggesting that mothers' dieting behavior is a source of young girls' ideas, concepts, and beliefs about dieting. Among mothers, more than 90% reported recent dieting, and most reported use of both health-promoting and health-compromising dieting behaviors. APPLICATIONS: Women should be informed that weight control attempts may influence their young daughters' emerging ideas, concepts, and beliefs about dieting. Mothers should be encouraged to use health-promoting rather than health-compromising weight control strategies, not only for their own well being, but to reduce the likelihood that daughters will incorporate health-compromising dieting behaviors into their concepts, ideas, and beliefs about dieting.     

Inositol-Related Gene Knockouts Mimic Lithium's Effect on Mitochondrial Function

The inositol-depletion hypothesis proposes that lithium attenuates phosphatidylinositol signaling. Knockout (KO) mice of two genes (IMPA1 or Slc5a3), each encoding for a protein related to inositol metabolism, were studied in comparison with lithium-treated mice. Since we previously demonstrated that these KO mice exhibit a lithium-like neurochemical and behavioral phenotype, here we searched for pathways that may mediate lithium''s/the KO effects. We performed a DNA-microarray study searching for pathways affected both by chronic lithium treatment and by the KO of each of the genes. The data were analyzed using three different bioinformatics approaches. We found upregulation of mitochondria-related genes in frontal cortex of lithium-treated, IMPA1 and Slc5a3 KO mice. Three out of seven genes differentially expressed in all three models, Cox5a, Ndufs7, and Ndufab, all members of the mitochondrial electron transfer chain, have previously been associated with bipolar disorder and/or lithium treatment. Upregulation of the expression of these genes was verified by real-time PCR. To further support the link between mitochondrial function and lithium''s effect on behavior, we determined the capacity of chronic low-dose rotenone, a mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I inhibitor, to alter lithium-induced behavior as measured by the forced-swim and the amphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion paradigms. Rontenone treatment counteracted lithium''s effect on behavior, supporting the proposition suggested by the bioinformatics analysis for a mitochondrial function involvement in behavioral effects of lithium mediated by inositol metabolism alterations.The results provide support for the notion that mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to bipolar disorder and can be ameliorated by lithium. The phenotypic similarities between lithium-treated wild-type mice and the two KO models suggest that lithium may affect behavior by altering inositol metabolism.     

Implicit Location Encoding Via Stored Representations Of Familiar Objects: Neuropsychological Evidence

We report data on the visual localisation ability of a patient with Balint's syndrome, GK. We show that, with relatively long exposures of displays, GK is better able to judge the spatial relations between separate objects (a “between-object judgement”) than the spatial relations between a part and a whole object (a “within-object judgement”) (Experiments 1–3). This dissociation occurred even when the same stimulus was used for both judgements, and the task instructions biased GK to parse the stimulus as either a single or as two separate objects (Experiments 2 and 6). However, when he could use a stored representation to make a within-object judgement, then performance was better than on a comparable spatial judgement of the relations between two separate objects (Experiments 4–7). The data demonstrate that stored representations of objects can support the spatial coding of parts to perceptual wholes. In the absence of stored representations, part-whole relations must be explicitly coded by attention, a process that is impaired in this patient.     

Hypertension exacerbates the effect of hypercholesterolemia on the myocardial microvasculature

OBJECTIVE: Hypercholesterolemia (HC) and hypertension (HT) are both major risk factors for the development and progression of atherosclerotic heart disease, and their co-existence has been associated with an increased incidence of cardiac events in clinical studies. HC and HT are individually associated with abnormal myocardial vascular function, but whether HT exacerbates the HC-induced myocardial vascular dysfunction remains unclear. METHODS: We studied in pigs the effect of renovascular HT superimposed on diet-induced HC (HC+HT) on myocardial perfusion and microvascular permeability in vivo (using electron-beam computed tomography) in response to cardiac challenge (i.v. adenosine and dobutamine). The involvement of systemic and myocardial tissue oxidative stress in vitro was assessed by oxidizability of LDL, levels of endogenous antioxidants, and tissue activities of radical-scavenger systems. RESULTS: While in normal animals myocardial perfusion increased in response to i.v. adenosine (+36+/-13%, P<0.05), in HC and HT alone the increase was blunted. In HC+HT myocardial perfusion response was further attenuated and significantly lower than normal, and myocardial vascular resistance failed to decrease (+7.6+/-8.8 vs. -21.0+/-5.8%, P=0.02 versus normal). HC+HT also showed blunted response to dobutamine, and augmented increases in microvascular permeability in vivo. These functional abnormalities were associated with increased systemic and myocardial tissue oxidative stress compared to HC or HT alone, and a synergistic decrease in endogenous antioxidant defenses in myocardial tissue. Furthermore, chronic antioxidant vitamin supplementation in combined HC and HT improved myocardial vascular responses. CONCLUSION: HT amplifies the HC-induced myocardial microvascular dysfunction in vivo and increased oxidative stress in vitro. These alterations may potentially play a role in the increased incidence of cardiac events observed when HC and HT co-exist.     

Angiotensin II AT1 receptor blockade improves renal perfusion in hypercholesterolemia

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia (HC) is a risk factor for renal disease that may activate the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor and accelerate renal damage. Early diet-induced HC impairs renal perfusion responses, but it is yet unknown whether the AT1 receptor is involved. This study tested the hypothesis that AT1 receptor blockade improved renal perfusion and functional responses in hypercholesterolemic pigs. METHODS: Regional renal hemodynamics and function in vivo were quantified bilaterally in pigs, at baseline and during vasoactive challenge (acetylcholine or sodium nitroprusside), using electron beam computed tomography after 12 weeks of normal (n = 6) or HC diet (n = 6), or HC diet supplemented (100 mg/d) with the AT1-receptor antagonist irbesartan (HC + AT1, n = 6). RESULTS: Basal cortical and medullary perfusion was similar among the groups. Basal tubular function was similar on normal and HC diets, whereas HC + AT1 showed decreased proximal and distal fluid reabsorption. Hypercholesterolemic pigs had blunted cortical perfusion (P = .22) and augmented tubular responses to acetylcholine, whereas on HC + AT1 diet, cortical perfusion (P = .002) and tubular function were similar to normal animals. This was associated with decreased systemic levels of the oxidative stress markers thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. CONCLUSIONS: The AT1 receptor blockade in HC improves renal perfusion and tubular functional responses to endothelium-dependent vasodilators, in association with a decrease in oxidative stress. These results imply involvement of the renin-angiotensin system in the blunted renal cortical perfusion responses observed in HC, and suggest a potential role for these agents in preservation of intrarenal hemodynamics and function in HC.     

The leukergy test in rheumatic diseases. New implications for an old test

In order to assess the value of the leukergy test in which leukocytes aggregate in citrated whole blood, we examined 65 patients with various rheumatic conditions. In addition, plasma samples from 40 patients were examined for neutrophil aggregation activity in vitro. Results of the leukergy test were found to be in very good correlation with disease activity (P = 0.0001), whereas no increased neutrophil aggregation activity was found in the 40 plasma samples examined. The value of the leukergy test in assessing patients with rheumatic disease and its theoretical etiopathogenic role in these diseases are discussed.