Responsiveness of Oral Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaires to Dental Caries Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis were undertaken to assess the responsiveness of validated oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) questionnaires to dental caries interventions in children, adolescents, and young adults. Studies eligible were randomized clinical trials (RCTs), controlled clinical trials (CCTs), and prospective case series (PCS), which had OHRQoL questionnaires answered before and after caries intervention(s). The main outcome was improvement in OHRQoL mean scores following caries intervention. Twenty-six studies were selected for the quality assessment and 14 were selected for the meta-analysis. Most of the studies were PCS with a single group pretest and posttest study design (n = 19). Five studies were CCT and only 2 were RCT. The numbers of participants were 3,522 in the control group (baseline = 2,002; final = 1,520) and 5,917 in the test group (baseline = 3,102; final = 2,815). The age of the subjects ranged from 3 to 19 years. All studies showed significant improvement in OHRQoL following caries intervention. Most of nonrandomized studies (n = 15) had low or moderate risk of bias. The meta-analysis showed the effect of caries interventions (standardized weighted mean differences = -1.24; 95% CI: -1.68 to -0.81; p < 0.001). However, high heterogeneity between the studies was found. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach classified the quality of evidence as very low and its strength weak. In conclusion, there is evidence that the OHRQoL of children and adolescents improved following caries intervention procedures, but the quality of the evidence was very low. In spite of that, caries interventions are highly recommended as abstaining from treatment is likely to result in a deterioration of OHRQoL.

Radiation induced a supra-additive cytotoxic effect in head and neck carcinoma cell lines when combined with plant extracts from Brazilian Cerrado biome.

OBJECTIVES: Antineoplastic effects of molecules derived from plants have recently gained increasing attention as an additive to traditional therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the cytotoxic activity of plant extracts from the Brazilian Cerrado biome associated with radiotherapy in head and neck carcinoma cells (HNSCC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen extracts derived from five Cerrado plants were tested in HNSCC cell lines (SCC-25, SCC-9, FaDu) and keratinocyte cells (HaCat). Cell cytotoxicity of extracts and association extract/radiation (2Gy/min) was assessed by MTT assay. Cisplatin (50 µg/mL) was used as a positive control. Extracts with the major cytotoxic activity were selected and their IC50 concentrations were defined. Apoptosis was assessed using flow cytometric analysis. RESULTS: Ten isolated extracts resulted in moderate cytotoxicity (>20 and ≤ 50 % of viable cells), while three extracts induced severe cytotoxic effects (≤ 20 % of viable cells). Plant extracts treatment improved radiotherapy cytotoxicity in all cell lines. Although plant extracts are not as potent as cisplatin plus radiation, in FaDu cells, seven extracts associated with irradiation showed cytotoxic activity similar or better than the association of cisplatin and radiation. Hexanic extract of Erythroxylum daphinites could induce apoptosis in oral cancer cells; however, necrosis was the prevalent kind of death in FaDu cells treated with hexanic extract of Erythroxylum suberosum. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment of HNSCC cells with the extract derived from Cerrado plants followed by irradiation induced a supra-additive cytotoxic effect. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study highlights the potential biological relevance of the Cerrado biome when associated with traditional therapy for cancer.

Pharmacological PTEN inhibition: potential clinical applications and effects in tissue regeneration.

Although the human body can heal, it takes time, and slow healing and chronic wounds often occur. Thus, identifying novel therapies to aid regeneration is needed. Here, we conducted a systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines and assessed preclinical studies on phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) inhibitors and their effects on tissue repair and regeneration. In conditions associated with neurodegeneration, tissue injury and ischemia, the PTEN-regulated PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is activated. The use of PTEN inhibitors resulted in better tissue response by reducing the healing time and lesion sizes or inducing neuronal regeneration. Notably, all studies included in this systematic review indicated that pharmacological inhibition of PTEN enhanced the repair process of the eye, lung, muscle and nervous system.