Kokubyo Gakkai zasshi. The Journal of the Stomatological Society, Japan最新文献

Titanium is widely used for medical implants. While many techniques for surface modification have been studied for optimizing its biocompatibility with hard tissues, little work has been undertaken to explore ways of maximizing its biocompatibility with soft tissues. We investigated cell attachment to titanium surfaces modified with bovine Type I collagen immobilized by either electrodeposition or a conventional immersion technique. The apparent thickness and durability of the immobilized collagen layer were evaluated prior to incubation of the collagen-immobilized titanium surfaces with NIH/3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts. The initial cell attachment and expression of actin and vinculin were evaluated. We determined that the immobilized collagen layer was much thicker and more durable when placed using the electrodeposition technique than the immersion technique. Both protocols produced materials that promoted better cell attachment, growth and structural protein expression than titanium alone. However, electrodeposition was ultimately superior to immersion because it is quicker to perform and produces a more durable collagen coating. We conclude that electrodeposition is an effective technique for immobilizing type I collagen on titanium surfaces, thus improving their cytocompatibility with fibroblasts.

Speech evaluation is essential to the rehabilitation of maxillectomy patients. A speech intelligibility test has been frequently used for the evaluation because of its simplicity. However, the test needs human listeners and this has been a shortcoming of the test. Thus, objective evaluation methods have been discussed. One of them is formant analysis for vowel evaluation and another is psychoacoustic analysis for consonants. In this research, to evaluate the speech in five maxillectomy patients, the F2-range was examined as formant analysis and the sharpness of /sa/ was examined as psychoacoustic analysis, in addition to the speech intelligibility test, during the fabrication process of a hollow-type obturator. The objective evaluation of patients' speech was effectively performed using those three methods. The F2-range was larger, the sharpness of /sa/ was higher and the speech intelligibility was higher when patients wore an obturator compared to when patients did not wear an obturator. The difference in speech when changing the types of obturator was not clear. The method and the findings are important for future research in this field, since speech is one of the important factors in maxillofacial rehabilitation.

A survey of dental diseases carried out by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2003 revealed that more than 40% of people aged between 5 and 25 suffer from periodontal diseases and the average number of DMFT has been decreasing. The lifestyle of junior and senior high school students in particular has changed drastically. This study investigated the relationship between dietary habits and oral diseases in junior and senior high school students in Tokyo. Survey responses were received from 813 of 848 students. There was a significant correlation between the presence of untreated teeth and student's dietary habits, or the presence of periodontal diseases. These results suggest that dental hygienists need to consider providing advice on appropriate eating habits during dental hygiene instruction to students.

This study was performed to ascertain any relationship between temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and contributing factors such as tooth contacting habit (TCH) that influence the manifestation of TMD and TCH in graduate female college students. The subjects were 114 graduate female college students in Oral Health Care Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The subjects were assessed using a questionnaire and observation of tongue indentation and buccal mucosa ridging. Of these students, 89 (78.1%) answered the questionnaire. Statistical examinations were performed using t-tests and logistic regression analyses. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to be a significant difference. The prevalence rate of TMD was 16 (19.3%) and the prevalence rate of TCH was 39 (47.0%). Logistic regression analyses indicated that unilateral chewing, presence of tongue indentation, and buccal mucosa ridging were significant contributors to the manifestation of TMD. In addition, these analyses indicated that sleep disorders and physical pain such as headaches and neck pain were significant contributors to the manifestation of TCH. This study suggested the following: unilateral chewing, presence of tongue indentation, and buccal mucosa ridging could correlate with the manifestation of TMD. In addition, sleep disorders, headaches, and neck pains could correlate with the manifestation of TCH.

Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) loading during development promotes its growth and maintains normal structure/function. Continuous change in diet consistency is related to development and maturation of the peripheral nervous system, including the nociceptive system. However, the functional modulation of TMJ-nociceptive neurons under different ingestive behavior is unclear. We fed growing rats a liquid diet to investigate the effects of low TMJ loading on the response properties of neurons in the trigeminal spinal tract subnucleus caudalis (Sp5C). Forty 2-week-old male rats were used. They were fed chow pellets (n = 20, C group) or a liquid diet (n = 20, LD group) soon after weaning. Firing activities of single sensory units in response to TMJ pressure stimuli were recorded at 4, 5, 7 and 9 weeks. In TMJ-nociceptive neurons, the firing threshold (FT) in the LD group was significantly lower than that in the C group at each recording age. The FT in the C group remained unchanged throughout the recording period, whereas that in the LD group was the highest at 4 weeks, and gradually decreased. On the other hand, the initial firing frequency (IFF) was significantly higher in the LD group than in the C group at each recording age. The IFF in the C group remained unchanged throughout the experimental period, whereas that in the LD group was at its lowest at 4 weeks, and gradually increased. Based on these findings, ingestive behavior that results from continuous changes in the physical consistency of the diet during growth may affect the functional maturation of TMJ-nociceptive neurons.

Unlabelled: ARID3A is a member of the AT-rich interaction domain (ARID) family of DNA-binding proteins. ARID3A was isolated as proteins binding to E2F1, and stimulates transcription mediated by the E2F transcription factor that plays a central role in regulating cell cycle progression. However, the function of ARID3A in E2F-target-gene expression has not been fully understood.

Methods: Gene-silencing and overexpression experiments were carried out using siRNA and recombinant adenoviruses, respectively. E2F responsive gene expression was measured by RT-PCR. Effects of ARID3A silencing on DNA synthesis and cell growth were determined by EdU incorporation and colony formation assay, respectively.

Results: siRNA mediated gene silencing of ARID3A blocked the transcription of E2F-target genes, such as E2F1, p107, CDC2 and CDC6 in normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs). Although adenoviral-mediated overexpression of ARID3A did not up-regulate the transcription of these E2F-target genes in quiescent NHDFs, E2F1 overexpression was unable to overcome the blockade of CDC6 expression by ARID3A silencing. Furthermore, ARID3A silencing attenuated S phase entry of NHDFs, and suppressed growth of human tumor cell lines.

Conclusion: These results indicate that ARID3A plays an important role for E2F-mediated transcriptional activation and cell growth.

The number of lung cancer patients is increasing. One complication of particular concern after surgery for lung cancer is postoperative pneumonia. The present study examined the various effects of oral care cough reflexes (cough reflex test), oral health conditions (OAG and face scale), and immune function (NK cell activity) in patients who underwent surgery for lung cancer. Subjects included 60 patients aged 75 years old or younger who were scheduled to undergo surgery for stage I lung cancer. The average age was 65.3 +/- 6.0 years old. We randomly divided the subjects into an oral care group and a control group. In the oral care group, we observed a significant increase in the normal rate of cough reflex test postsurgery, relative to pre-surgery. In contrast, no significant change in the normal rate of cough reflex test was noted for patients in the control group. Oral health conditions showed similar results. While we observed no significant change in NK cell activity from between pre-surgery and post-surgery in the oral care group, we did note a significant decrease in the control group. Two cases of pneumonia after surgery were identified in the control group. The oral care group did not get postoperative pneumonia. Thus, it was shown that oral care is related to cough reflex, oral health conditions, and immune function.