Antimicrobial activity and toxicity of glass ionomer cement containing an essential oil.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and toxicity of glass ionomer cement (GIC) modified with 5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)phenol (thymol) against Streptococcus mutans in silico and in vitro. The antimicrobial activity of thymol on GIC modified with concentrations of 2% (GIC-2) and 4% (GIC-4) was evaluated in a model of planktonic cell biofilm using agar diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), dynamic biofilm (continuous flow cell parallel), and bacterial kinetics. Conventional GIC (GIC-0) was used as a control. Thymol toxicity was evaluated in Artemia salina and in silico using Osiris® software. Differences between groups were estimated by analysis of variance, followed by Tukey post hoc test, with a 5% significance level. The results of the agar diffusion test between groups were not significantly different (P≥0.05). Thymol had potential bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity against Streptococcus mutans with respect to planktonic growth, with MIC of 100 µg/mL and MBC of 400 µg/mL. The groups GIC-0, GIC-2, and GIC-4 reduced the biofilm by approximately 10, 85, and 95%, respectively. Bacterial kinetics showed efficiency of the modified GICs for up to 96 h. GIC with thymol was effective against S. mutans, with significant inhibition of the biofilms. Analyses in silico and using Artemia salina resulted in no relevant toxicity, suggesting potential for use in humans. GIC-2 was effective against S. mutans biofilm, with decreased cell viability.

Antimicrobial activity and toxicity of glass ionomer cement containing an essential oil

The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity and toxicity of glass ionomer cement (GIC) modified with 5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)phenol (thymol) against Streptococcus mutans in silico and in vitro. The antimicrobial activity of thymol on GIC modified with concentrations of 2% (GIC-2) and 4% (GIC-4) was evaluated in a model of planktonic cell biofilm using agar diffusion test, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), dynamic biofilm (continuous flow cell parallel), and bacterial kinetics. Conventional GIC (GIC-0) was used as a control. Thymol toxicity was evaluated in Artemia salina and in silico using Osiris® software. Differences between groups were estimated by analysis of variance, followed by Tukey post hoc test, with a 5% significance level. The results of the agar diffusion test between groups were not significantly different (P≥0.05). Thymol had potential bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity against Streptococcus mutans with respect to planktonic growth, with MIC of 100 µg/mL and MBC of 400 µg/mL. The groups GIC-0, GIC-2, and GIC-4 reduced the biofilm by approximately 10, 85, and 95%, respectively. Bacterial kinetics showed efficiency of the modified GICs for up to 96 h. GIC with thymol was effective against S. mutans, with significant inhibition of the biofilms. Analyses in silico and using Artemia salina resulted in no relevant toxicity, suggesting potential for use in humans. GIC-2 was effective against S. mutans biofilm, with decreased cell viability.

The GnRH analogue dephereline given in a fixed-time AI protocol improves ovulation and embryo survival in dairy cows.

This study compares the fertility effects of inducing ovulation using the GnRH analogue, dephereline, versus natural GnRH at the end of a 5-day progesterone(P4)-based protocol for fixed-time artificial insemination (FTAI) in in heat-stressed and non-heat stressed lactating dairy cows. Cows were given GnRH (GnRH group, n = 369) or dephereline (DEPH group, n = 379) and were inseminated 14-20 h later. Dephereline treatment increased corpus luteum (CL) size on Day 7 post-AI compared with GnRH (P < .0001) while a one-mm increase in CL size was found to give rise to a 1.1-fold increase in the pregnancy rate at FTAI (P = .001). Based on odds ratios, the interaction between treatment and heat stress had a significant effect on the ovulation failure rate (P < .01). This meant that relative to non-heat-stressed GnRH-treated cows, ovulation failure was 2.9 times more likely in heat-stressed GnRH-treated cows (P = .001), 0.3 times less likely in non-heat-stressed DEPH-treated cows (P = .04) and was similar in heat-stressed DEPH-treated cows. Further, non-heat-stressed DEPH-treated cows were more likely to conceive by a factor of 1.6 than the remaining cows (P = .03). Finally, GnRH-treated multiparous cows were 9.9 times more likely to suffer pregnancy loss than the remaining cows (P = .03). Our results indicate that, compared to treatment with GnRH, dephereline reduced the risk of ovulation failure and consequently increased the pregnancy rate under heat stress conditions. In multiparous cows, dephereline treatment also reduced the negative age effect on pregnancy maintenance.

HLA genetic diversity in Hungarians and Hungarian Gypsies: complementary differentiation patterns and demographic signals revealed by HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 in Central Europe.

Systematic analyses of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) profiles in different populations may increase the efficiency of bone marrow donor selection and help reconstructing human peopling history. We typed HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 allele groups in two bone marrow donor cohorts of 2402 Hungarians and 186 Hungarian Gypsies and compared them with several Central-European, Spanish Gypsy, and Indian populations. Our results indicate that different European Gypsy populations share a common origin but diverged genetically as a consequence of founder effect and rapid genetic drift, whereas other European populations are related genetically in relation to geography. This study also suggests that while HLA-A accurately depicts the effects of genetic drift, HLA-B, and -DRB1 conserve more signatures of ancient population relationships, as a result of balancing selection.

HLA-A, B and DRB1 genetic heterogeneity in Quebec.

Recent studies have shown that under specific conditions such as high sample sizes and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, bone marrow donor registry data can be used to describe HLA molecular variation across a specific geographic area, thus providing excellent data sets to infer human migrations history. The province of Quebec is known to have experienced a complex history of settlement, characterized by multiple migrations and demographic changes. We thus analysed the data of more than 13 000 unrelated individuals acting as volunteer bone marrow donors who were molecularly typed for HLA-A, B and DRB1 polymorphisms in the Héma-Quebec registry. HLA allelic and haplotypic frequencies were estimated and compared among regions. The results indicate that, despite an overall low genetic diversity in Quebec, genetic variation is correlated with geography, compatible with isolation-by-distance across the province. However, some localities also harbour contrasting genetic profiles, that is a highly diversified genetic pool in the two main urban centres (Montréal and Laval) and a more pronounced genetic divergence of two specific regions characterized by a peculiar peopling history (Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean and Gaspésie-Îles-De-La-Madeleine). In agreement with other independent molecular markers, the observations based on HLA data thus account for the main demographic mechanisms that shaped the genetic structure of the present day Quebecer population. In addition, the detailed analysis of the Héma-Quebec registry provides key genetic information on which an efficient bone marrow transplantation recruitment strategy can be settled.

Resolution of HLA-B*44:02:01G, -DRB1*14:01:01G and -DQB1*03:01:01G reveals a high allelic variability among 12 European populations.

Within the framework of the EU-funded HLA-NET action, an analysis of three G-group alleles, HLA-B*44:02:01G, DRB1*14:01:01G and DQB1*03:01:01G, was undertaken in 12 European populations. Ambiguities were resolved by polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific amplification (PCR-SSP) or PCR-sequence-based typing (PCR-SBT) in a total of 5095 individuals. The results of the DRB1*14:01/14:54 ambiguity showed high relative ratios (24-53%) of DRB1*14:01 in Bulgarians, Croatians, Greeks, Italians and Slovenians, contrasting with low ratios (6-13%) in Austrians, Finnish, French, Hungarians, Norwegians and Swiss. Resolution of the B*44:02/44:27 ambiguity showed that B*44:27 had a high relative ratio in Slovenians (25.5%) and Bulgarians (37%) and low in French and Swiss (0.02-1%), and was not observed in Greeks and Italians. The highest relative ratio of DQB1*03:19 was found in Portuguese (11%), by contrast with low ratios (0-3%) in the other five populations. Analysis of the A, B, DRB1 phenotypes and family-derived haplotypes in 1719 and 403 individuals positive for either HLA-B*44:02G or DRB1*14:01G ambiguities, respectively, showed some preferential associations, such as A*26∼DRB1*14:01, B*35∼DRB1*14:01, B*38∼DRB1*14:01 and B*44:27∼DRB1*16. Because these ambiguities are located outside the peptide-binding site, they may not be recognized by alloreactive T-cells. However, because of strong linkage disequilibrium (LD), the DRB1*14:01 vs DRB1*14:54 and the B*44:02 vs B*44:27 mismatches are associated to DRB3-, and C-mismatches, respectively. These results are informative for algorithms searching unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donors. For B*44:27-positive patients, searches are expected to be more successful when requesting donors from Southeastern-European ancestry. Furthermore, the introduction of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-typing strategies that allow resolving exon 4 (for class I) and exon 3 (for class II) polymorphisms can be expected to contribute significantly to population genetics studies.

Uterine prolapse: evaluation of glycosaminoglycans in postmenopausal women after estrogen therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the parametrium, paraurethral tissue and vaginal apex in postmenopausal women with uterine prolapse and to evaluate the effect of 30-day estrogen therapy in these patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Double-blind trial of estrogen and placebo in 40 women with a control group of 20 premenopausal women without uterine prolapse. Twenty postmenopausal women with prolapse formed a second group and were treated with placebo for 30 days before vaginal hysterectomy. The third group included 20 postmenopausal women with prolapse who received 0.625 mg oral conjugated estrogens for 30 days before vaginal hysterectomy. Samples of the parametrium, vaginal apex and paraurethral tissue were obtained during surgery. RESULTS: Hyaluronic acid was the predominant GAG detected, followed by dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate. In postmenopausal women with prolapse, we did not observe significant differences in total GAGs compared to the control group. However, hyaluronic acid was increased in the parametrium of women receiving estrogen compared to those treated with the placebo (2033.39 ±â€Š3037.90 mg/g vs. 587.87 ±â€Š697.89 mg/g, respectively; p = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS: There are differences in GAGs in the parametrium, paraurethral tissue and vaginal apex between women in premenopause and those in the postmenopause period. Therefore, 30-day estrogen therapy produces significant differences in levels of hyaluronic acid, dermatan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate.

Analysis of the HLA population data (AHPD) submitted to the 15th International Histocompatibility/Immunogenetics Workshop by using the Gene[rate] computer tools accommodating ambiguous data (AHPD project report).

During the 15th International Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Workshop (IHIWS), 14 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) laboratories participated in the Analysis of HLA Population Data (AHPD) project where 18 new population samples were analyzed statistically and compared with data available from previous workshops. To that aim, an original methodology was developed and used (i) to estimate frequencies by taking into account ambiguous genotypic data, (ii) to test for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) by using a nested likelihood ratio test involving a parameter accounting for HWE deviations, (iii) to test for selective neutrality by using a resampling algorithm, and (iv) to provide explicit graphical representations including allele frequencies and basic statistics for each series of data. A total of 66 data series (1-7 loci per population) were analyzed with this standard approach. Frequency estimates were compliant with HWE in all but one population of mixed stem cell donors. Neutrality testing confirmed the observation of heterozygote excess at all HLA loci, although a significant deviation was established in only a few cases. Population comparisons showed that HLA genetic patterns were mostly shaped by geographic and/or linguistic differentiations in Africa and Europe, but not in America where both genetic drift in isolated populations and gene flow in admixed populations led to a more complex genetic structure. Overall, a fruitful collaboration between HLA typing laboratories and population geneticists allowed finding useful solutions to the problem of estimating gene frequencies and testing basic population diversity statistics on highly complex HLA data (high numbers of alleles and ambiguities), with promising applications in either anthropological, epidemiological, or transplantation studies.