Association of gut microbiome and oral cavity cancer: A two sample mendelian randomization and case-control study.

INTRODUCTION: Considering the interconnectedness of the oral cavity and gut tract and the presence of abundant natural microbiota in both. We utilized Mendelian Randomization (MR) in a two-sample study to unveil the genetic causal impact of gut microbiota on the development of oral cavity cancer. MATERIALS & METHODS: The instrumental variables employed in this study consisted of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that demonstrated a robust association with 211 distinct gut microbiota taxa, encompassing a sample size of 18,340 individuals. Our investigation sought to explore the potential causal relationship between these genetic variants and the incidence of oral cavity cancer. To accomplish this, we adopted a random effect inverse variance-weighted approach to analyze the causal effect. Additionally, sensitivity analyses were performed utilizing Cochran's Q tests, funnel plots, leave-one-out analyses, and MR-Egger intercept tests, to assess the robustness and validity of our findings. RESULTS: Five gut microbiota taxa (the family Prevotellaceae, the genus Alloprevotella, the genus Erysipelatoclostridium, the genus Parabacteroides, the genus Ruminococcus gauvreauii group) are predicted to play a causal role in promoting the initiation of the risk of oral cavity cancer. While the genus Christensenellaceae R 7 group, the genus Intestinimonas, the genus Ruminococcaceae, and the order Bacillales causally reduce the risk of oral cavity cancer. Furthermore, no significant evidence suggesting heterogeneity or pleiotropy was observed. DISCUSSION: The novel genetic causal effects of 211 gut microbiota taxa on oral cavity cancer are elucidated in this investigation, thus offering valuable insights for clinical interventions targeting oral cavity cancer.

[Characterization and Health Risk of Heavy Metals in PM2.5 from Road Fugitive Dust in Five Cities of Yunnan Province].

In order to study the contents, sources, and health risk of PM2.5 in road fugitive dust in Yunnan, road fugitive dust samples were collected from five typical cities including Kunming, Baoshan, Wenshan, Zhaotong, and Yuxi. Particulate matter resuspension technology was used to levitate the dust samples and collect PM2.5. Eight heavy metals including chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), selenium (As), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in PM2.5 were detected using ICP-MS. The results showed that the contents of Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb in road fugitive dust seriously exceeded the background values of Yunnan soil. The enrichment factors showed that most of the heavy metals in PM2.5 of road fugitive dust in the five cities of Yunnan were moderately enriched and strongly enriched, which were greatly influenced by human activities. The results of correlation analysis and principal component analysis showed that the heavy metals in PM2.5 of road fugitive dust in Yunnan were all affected by soil and traffic sources. The other sources varied greatly in different cities:Kunming was affected by iron and steel melting sources, Baoshan and Yuxi were affected by non-ferrous metal smelting sources, and Zhaotong was affected by coal sources. Health risk analysis showed that Cr, Pb, and As in road fugitive dust PM2.5 had non-carcinogenic risk in children in Kunming, Yuxi, and Zhaotong, respectively, and Cr in Kunming also had a lifetime carcinogenic risk.

More Positive or More Negative? Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Roles of Virome in Human Disease-Related Gut Microbiome.

Viruses are increasingly viewed as vital components of the human gut microbiota, while their roles in health and diseases remain incompletely understood. Here, we first sequenced and analyzed the 37 metagenomic and 18 host metabolomic samples related to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and found that some shifted viruses between IBS and controls covaried with shifted bacteria and metabolites. Especially, phages that infect beneficial lactic acid bacteria depleted in IBS covaried with their hosts. We also retrieved public whole-genome metagenomic datasets of another four diseases (type 2 diabetes, Crohn's disease, colorectal cancer, and liver cirrhosis), totaling 438 samples including IBS, and performed uniform analysis of the gut viruses in diseases. By constructing disease-specific co-occurrence networks, we found viruses actively interacting with bacteria, negatively correlated with possible dysbiosis-related and inflammation-mediating bacteria, increasing the connectivity between bacteria modules, and contributing to the robustness of the networks. Functional enrichment analysis showed that phages interact with bacteria through predation or expressing genes involved in the transporter and secretion system, metabolic enzymes, etc. We further built a viral database to facilitate systematic functional classification and explored the functions of viral genes on interacting with bacteria. Our analyses provided a systematic view of the gut virome in the disease-related microbial community and suggested possible positive roles of viruses concerning gut health.

Postoperative online follow-up improves the quality of life of patients who undergo extraction of impacted madibular third molars: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of online follow-up on the quality of life of patients who undergo extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study enrolled patients with impacted mandibular third molars who were treated at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery of the Stomatological Hospital at Southern Medical University and divided them into test and control groups. The test group received an online follow-up on the first, third, and fifth days after tooth extraction, while the control group was not followed up with. Patients in both groups were reexamined on the postoperative seventh day, completing the postoperative symptom severity (PoSSe) scale to comprehensively and quantitatively evaluate their quality of life after tooth extraction. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the degree of approval for an online follow-up after tooth extraction by 20 senior doctors (≥ 40 years old) and 20 young doctors (<4 0 years old). RESULTS: The PoSSe scale scores of the remaining options in the test group were significantly lower than those in the control group. The VAS score of senior doctors for online follow-up was significantly lower than that of young doctors. CONCLUSIONS: A postoperative online follow-up effectively improved the quality of life of patients who underwent extraction of impacted mandibular third molars. Compared with senior doctors, young doctors were more likely to approve an online follow-up after tooth extraction. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Online medical care can be considered as an auxiliary tool to improve the effect of oral treatment.

Corrective outcome and transverse stability after orthognathic surgery using a surgery-first approach in mandibular prognathism with and without facial asymmetry.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate corrective outcome and transverse stability after orthognathic surgery via a surgery-first approach (SFA) in mandibular prognathism with and without facial asymmetry using 3-dimensional analysis. STUDY DESIGN: Twenty-nine patients who received mandibular setback surgery using SFA were divided into 2 groups according to the menton deviation (4 mm): symmetry group (n = 17) and asymmetry group (n = 12). Using computed tomography images obtained before (T0), immediately after (T1), and 6 months after (T2) surgery, time-dependent changes in variables related to facial asymmetry, including maxillary height, ramal length, frontal and lateral ramal inclination, mandibular body length, and mandibular body height, were evaluated. RESULTS: Immediately after surgery, the asymmetry group showed significantly decreased discrepancies between the longer and non-longer sides for all variables (P < .05); there were no significant differences in discrepancies between the 2 groups. During the postoperative period, no significant changes in discrepancies were found in any variable in either group. Compared with T0, the asymmetry group showed significantly decreased discrepancies in ramal length, frontal and lateral ramal inclination, and mandibular body length at T2. CONCLUSIONS: Variables related to facial asymmetry showed significant improvement after surgical-orthodontic treatment using SFA, and corrected outcomes showed good postoperative stability in both the symmetry and asymmetry groups.