Assessment of the Healing of Dental Implant Surgical Site Following Low-Level Laser Therapy Using Bioclinical Parameters: An Exploratory Study.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether low-level laser therapy improves healing of the implant surgical site with clinical and biochemical parameters. Thirty patients with an edentulous space spanning a single tooth were selected. The patients were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups: control group and test group. The test group received laser energy at a power of 2 J/cm2 with a total of 4-6 J energy over each implant. Clinical parameters (implant stability quotient, probing index, modified sulcus bleeding index) and osteoprotegerin were assessed at baseline and follow-up intervals (2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 3 months). The test group showed significantly higher implant stability quotient than the control group at 2 weeks (57.93 ± 3.95 vs 35.67 ± 3.08; P < . 01) and 3 months (58.86 ± 3.75 vs 67.06 ± 3.78; P < . 01). A significant rise in osteoprotegerin levels of the test group (686.30 ± 125.36 pg/mL at baseline and 784.25 ± 108.30 pg/mL at 3 months; P < . 01) was seen contrary to significant decline in the control group (839.50 ± 249.08 pg/mL at baseline vs 415.30 ± 78.39 pg/mL at 3 months; P < . 01). Within the limitations of the study, the findings suggest that the healing of peri-implant hard and soft tissues may be enhanced with the use of low-level laser therapy as an explicit modality during the postoperative period.

Impact of Different Prosthodontic Treatment Modalities on Nutritional Parameters of Elderly Patients.

PURPOSE: To assess dietary and nutritional changes among the elderly following pros-thodontic rehabilitation. Another objective was to study the relationship, if any, between diet and nutrition, with extent of edentulism and different types of prosthodontic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and thirty-five patients who satisfied the inclu-sion and exclusion criteria and agreed to be a part of the study after informed consent were recruited to this longitudinal study. Following selection, they were investigated on four aspects: dental examination, dietary assessment, anthropometric assessment, and serum biochemical assessment. All measurements were collected twice, first at baseline and then 6 months following prosthodontic rehabilitation. Treatment modalities included were complete denture (CD), removable partial denture (RPD), and fixed partial denture (FPD). The RPD group was of two types: distal extension prosthesis (RPDD) and tooth-supported prosthesis (RPDT). Change (post-pre) in outcome measures was compared by one-way ANOVA, and significance of mean difference between the groups was done by Tukey's honestly significance difference post hoc test. RESULTS: The improvement in diet was found to be: CD > RPDD > RPDT > FPD. Significant improvement in weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p < 0.001), protein (p < 0.001), carbohydrate (p = 0.021), calorie (p < 0.001), iron (p = 0.002), and vitamin B (p < 0.001) in group CD as compared to partially edentulous patients (group RPDD + RPDT + FPD) was noted. The protein and calorie intake increased significantly in group RPD as compared to group FPD in partially edentulous patients. CONCLUSION: Prosthetic rehabilitation becomes increasingly important as the level of edentulism increases to improve dietary, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters.

Anti-influenza virus activity of peramivir in mice with single intramuscular injection.

In the event of an influenza outbreak, antivirals including the neuraminidase (NA) inhibitors, peramivir, oseltamivir, and zanamivir may provide valuable benefit when vaccine production is delayed, limited, or cannot be used. Here we demonstrate the efficacy of a single intramuscular injection of peramivir in the mouse influenza model. Peramivir potently inhibits the neuraminidase enzyme N9 from H1N9 virus in vitro with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 1.3+/-0.4 nM. On-site dissociation studies indicate that peramivir remains tightly bound to N9 NA (t(1/2)>24h), whereas, zanamivir and oseltamivir carboxylate dissociated rapidly from the enzyme (t(1/2)=1.25 h). A single intramuscular injection of peramivir (10mg/kg) significantly reduces weight loss and mortality in mice infected with influenza A/H1N1, while oseltamivir demonstrates no efficacy by the same treatment regimen. This may be due to tight binding of peramivir to the N1 NA enzymes similar to that observed for N9 enzyme. Additional efficacy studies indicate that a single injection of peramivir (2-20mg/kg) was comparable to a q.d.x 5 day course of orally administered oseltamivir (2-20mg/kg/day) in preventing lethality in H3N2 and H1N1 influenza models. A single intramuscular injection of peramivir may successfully treat influenza infections and provide an alternate option to oseltamivir during an influenza outbreak.