Electrochemical sensing system employing fructosamine 6-kinase enables glycated albumin measurement requiring no proteolytic digestion.

Currently available enzymatic methods for the measurement of glycated proteins utilize fructosyl amino acid/peptide oxidases (FAOXs/FPOXs) as sensing elements. FAOXs/FPOXs oxidize glycated amino acids or glycated dipeptides but they are not able to accept longer glycated peptides or intact glycated proteins as substrates. Therefore, pretreatment via proteolytic digestion is unavoidable with the current enzymatic methods, and there remains a need for simpler measurement methods for glycated proteins. In this study, in order to develop a novel sensing system for glycated albumin (GA), a marker for diabetes, with no requirement for proteolytic digestion, we created an electrochemical sensor based on fructosamine 6-kinase (FN6K) from Escherichia coli. Uniquely, FN6K can react directly with intact GA unlike FAOXs/FPOXs. The concentration of GA in samples was measured using a carbon-printed disposable electrode upon which FN6K as well as two additional enzymes, pyruvate kinase and pyruvate dehydrogenase were overlaid. A clear correlation between the response current and the concentration of GA was observed in the range of 20-100 µM GA, which is suitable for measurement of GA in diluted blood samples from both healthy individuals and patients with diabetes. The sensing system reported here could be applied to point-of-care-testing devices for measurement of glycated proteins.

Beneficial effects of orthodontic treatment on quality of life in patients with malocclusion.

Patients with malocclusion, especially those in need of surgical correction, have lower health related quality of life (HRQOL) and higher anxiety. We investigated the changes of HRQOL and psychological status following jaw surgery in the patients with facial deformities. Thirty-one adult orthodontic patients admitted to Tohoku University Hospital and diagnosed as malocclusion requiring jaw surgery were recruited for the study. The severity of malocclusion was assessed by Severity Score (SS) which is based on their cephalometric radiographs. They were divided into three groups according to the severity of malocclusion, i.e. Low-SS, Moderate-SS and High-SS. The subjects also completed a generic HRQOL (entire body health) instrument, and three disease-specific oral HRQOL instruments. HRQOL and psychological status of the patients were assessed before (T1) and at debonding of multibracketed appliances after surgery (T2). SS in each group significantly decreased to normal occlusion level (SS = approximately 0-1). Oral function significantly improved from 11.8 +/- 5.4 to 5.9 +/- 4.3 in the Low-SS (p < 0.01), from 13.7 +/- 6.5 to 8.8 +/- 5.1 in the Moderate-SS (p < 0.05), and from 14.7 +/- 6.7 to 7.8 +/- 5.7 in the High-SS (p < 0.01). The patients after the surgical correction had improved disease-specific HRQOL and state anxiety irrespective of the severity before surgery, although the generic HRQOL, trait anxiety and depression were equal to that before the surgery. Furthermore, both postoperative anxiety and HRQOL were estimated by the preoperative anxiety and HRQOL. These results indicated that jaw surgery markedly improved the disease-specific HRQOL and psychological status in the present patients. We therefore suggest that assessments of the HRQOL and psychological status before treatment might predict the HRQOL and psychological status after the treatment to a certain extent.

Difference in quality of life according to the severity of malocclusion in Japanese orthodontic patients.

Although quality of life (QOL) assessment is important in dentistry, it has not been fully investigated in orthodontic patients. We investigated the health-related generic QOL (entire body health) and disease specific QOL (oral health) in adult patients with malocclusions at the first visit. One hundred and twenty-seven orthodontic patients and 66 persons with normal occlusion were recruited for the study. The subjects were divided into the three following groups based on their treatment: 61 patients in need of surgical correction (SURG), 66 patients in need of non-surgical correction (NONS), and 66 control subjects with normal occlusion. Their dentofacial morphology was assessed using a specific Severity Score (SS), which was set up originally based on their cephalometric radiographs and their plaster models of arrangement of their teeth. The subjects also completed a generic QOL assessment questionnaire, the SF-36, and two disease-specific QOL instruments. The patients with malocclusions, especially SURG, had lower disease-specific QOL, although the generic QOL was equal to that of control subjects. Furthermore, in patients with the same severity of dentofacial deformities, especially SS 4 and SS 5, the borderline cases of surgical correction and non-surgical correction, there were differences between SURG and NONS in some items of the QOL. The severity of malocclusion evidently plays an important role in patients' choice of treatment, but also QOL appeared to play a significant role. The QOL assessment may contribute to the selection of the best treatment for improving QOL, especially for borderline cases with moderate degrees of orthodontic abnormality.