Comparison of rate of orthodontic tooth movement in adolescent patients undergoing treatment by first bicuspid extraction and en-mass retraction, associated with low level laser therapy in passive self-ligating and conventional brackets: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is one of the various interventions to accelerate the rate of Orthodontic Tooth Movement (OTM) in adolescent patients who are undergoing en-mass retraction after all first bicuspid extractions. OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy of LLLT in increasing the rate of OTM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Setting and sample population: Institutional Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics. Participants, study design and methods: 65 Patients requiring all first premolar extractions were randomly allocated to three groups. Two groups (Comprising of passive self-ligating brackets and conventional brackets) were treated with LLLT and one group served as the control (conventional brackets). The allocation ratio was 1:1:1.32. Eligibility criteria: adolescent patients with sound and healthy permanent dentition with Little's Irregularity Index<5mm. MAIN OUTCOME: rate of tooth movement in mm/month. Randomization and blinding: computer-generated random allocation sequence; only the data analyser was blinded by coding the digital models. Patients were reviewed once every month till the completion of space closure. STATISTICS: data normality was checked using Shapiro-Wilks test and Q-Q Plot. Parametric tests were applied for the inferential statistics (ANCOVA) with Dunnett's t test being used for post hoc analysis. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant enhancement in the rate of OTM in the 2 experimental groups (0.68/0.67mm/month in the right and left side of the maxilla and 0.66/0.65mm/month in the right and left side of the mandible) when compared with the control group (0.48mm/month in the maxilla and 0.48mm/month in the mandible) (P<0.05), but when the 2 experimental groups were compared no difference was observed (P>0.05). No serious harms were reported. CONCLUSION: A significant increase in the rate of OTM was observed with the application of LLLT. No difference was observed in the rate of OTM when comparing different ligation methods treated with LLLT. REGISTRATION: National Trial Registry (CTRI No- CTRI/2018/04/013156). Protocol was not published before trial commencement.

Structural Patterns and Stabilities of Hydrogen-Bonded Pairs Involving Ribonucleotide Bases and Arginine, Glutamic Acid, or Glutamine Residues of Proteins from Quantum Mechanical Calculations.

Ribonucleotide:protein interactions play crucial roles in a number of biological processes. Unlike the RNA:protein interface where van der Waals contacts are prevalent, the recognition of a single ribonucleotide such as ATP by a protein occurs predominantly through hydrogen-bonding interactions. As a first step toward understanding the role of hydrogen bonding in ribonucleotide:protein recognition, the present work employs density functional theory to provide a detailed quantum-mechanical analysis of the structural and energetic characteristics of 18 unique hydrogen-bonded pairs involving the nucleobase/nucleoside moiety of four canonical ribonucleotides and the side chains of three polar amino-acid residues (arginine, glutamine, and glutamic acid) of proteins. In addition, we model five new pairs that are till now not observed in crystallographically identified ribonucleotide:protein complexes but may be identified in complexes crystallized in the future. We critically examine the characteristics of each pair in its ribonucleotide:protein crystal structure occurrence and (gas phase and water phase) optimized intrinsic structure. We further evaluated the interaction energy of each pair and characterized the associated hydrogen bonds using a number of quantum mechanics-based relationships including natural bond orbital analysis, quantum theory atoms in molecules analysis, Iogansen relationships, Nikolaienko-Bulavin-Hovorun relationships, and noncovalent interaction-reduced density gradient analysis. Our analyses reveal rich variability in hydrogen bonds in the crystallographic as well as intrinsic structure of each pair, which includes conventional O/N-H···N/O and C-H···O hydrogen bonds as well as donor/acceptor-bifurcated hydrogen bonds. Further, we identify five combinations of nucleobase and amino acid moieties; each of which exhibits at least two alternate (i.e., multimodal) structures that interact through the same nucleobase edge. In fact, one such pair exhibits four multimodal structures; one of which possesses unconventional "amino-acceptor" hydrogen bonding with comparable (-9.4 kcal mol-1) strength to the corresponding conventional (i.e., amino:donor) structure (-9.2 kcal mol-1). This points to the importance of amino-acceptor hydrogen bonds in RNA:protein interactions and suggests that such interactions must be considered in the future while studying the dynamics in the context of molecular recognition. Overall, our study provides preliminary insights into the intrinsic features of ribonucleotide:amino acid interactions, which may help frame a clearer picture of the molecular basis of RNA:protein recognition and further appreciate the role of such contacts in biology.

A role of IgM antibodies in monosodium urate crystal formation and associated adjuvanticity.

Uric acid is released from injured cells and can act as an adjuvant signal to the immune system. Uric acid crystals invoke strong inflammatory responses in tissues. Although their biological effects are evident and the associated signaling mechanisms are becoming clear, it remains unexplained as to why uric acid precipitates rapidly in vivo, in sharp contrast to the minimal crystallization in vitro. We report in this study that a group of IgM Abs is able to bind to these crystals, which is interesting in light that B cell-deficient mice do not sense the proinflammatory adjuvant effect of uric acid. The titers of these Abs increase upon immunization with uric acid crystals. We have produced large quantities of such mAbs. The purified IgM Abs can significantly facilitate uric acid precipitation to form the inflammatory crystals in vitro. Infusion of these Abs into B cell-deficient mice significantly increases the basal level of inflammation in these recipients and restores the host's ability to sense uric acid's adjuvanticity. Therefore, we have identified a factor in determining uric acid precipitation and possibly its ability to function as an endogenous adjuvant. This finding suggests a new mechanism of the pathogenesis of gouty arthritis and uric acid-induced immune activation.

Characterizing components of the Saw Palmetto Berry Extract (SPBE) on prostate cancer cell growth and traction.

Saw Palmetto Berry Extract (SPBE) is applied for prostate health and treatment of urinary tract infections, nonbacterial prostitis and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) in man. An assumption is that SPBE affects tumor cell progression and migration in breast and prostate tissue. In this work, DU-145 cells were used to demonstrate that SPBE and its sterol components, beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol, inhibit prostate cancer growth by increasing p53 protein expression and also inhibit carcinoma development by decreasing p21 and p27 protein expression. In the presence of cholesterol, these features are not only reversed but increased significantly. The results show for the first time the potential of SPBE, beta-sitosterol and stigmasterol as potential anti-tumor agents. Since the protein p53 is also regarded as nuclear matrix protein facilitating actin cytoskeletal binding, 2D tractions were measured. The cell adhesion strength in the presence of SPBE, beta-sitosterol and cholesterol and the observation was that the increase in p53 expression triggered an increase in the intracellular force generation. The results suggest a dual function of p53 in cells.