Effects of vascular endothelial growth factor on osteoclast induction during tooth movement in mice.

UNLABELLED: For orthodontic tooth movement, remodeling of the alveolar bone is maintained by a repeated process of bone resorption and new bone formation, controlled, respectively, by osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Recently, we have found that recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (rhVEGF) acts as a macrophage colony-stimulating factor in osteoclast induction in osteopetrotic (op/op) mice. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether rhVEGF stimulates osteoclast differentiation during experimental tooth movement. Purified rhVEGF was injected once into the buccal gingival groove around the incisors. An experimental appliance with a helical loop was bonded onto the upper incisors, and an initial force of 1.0 g was applied for three days. The number of osteoclasts appearing in the periodontal ligament space on the pressure side of the alveolar bone was increased markedly. These results suggest that local administration of rhVEGF enhances the number of osteoclasts, and may increase the rate of orthodontic tooth movement. ABBREVIATIONS: recombinant human vascular endothelial growth factor (rhVEGF), macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF), osteopetrotic mice (op/op mice),fms-like tyrosine kinase (Flt-1), periodontal ligament (PDL), phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), and analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Responsiveness of monkey preoptic thermosensitive neurons to non-thermal emotional stimuli.

Responsiveness of 143 preoptic neurons to changes in hypothalamic temperature and to non-thermal emotional stimuli were investigated while rewarding (foods) and aversive objects (hypertonic saline, a toy snake, an air puffer) were given. About 71% of thermosensitive neurons and 32% of thermally insensitive neurons changed the activity when emotional stimuli were shown to and/or tasted by the monkey. Such responses were modulated by satiety/hunger state and were dependent on the degree of perturbation of emotional state. About half of the neurons tested responded when the monkey opened the mouth and protruded the tongue or moved fingers in trying to obtain foods with strong motivation, but did not when the animal made such movements less readily or reluctantly with the progress of satiation. This response was most frequently found among warm-units. The results raise a possibility that preoptic thermosensitive neurons, besides their postulated thermoregulatory functions, might be involved in the response of coordination with thermal and non-thermal emotional behaviors controlled in the hypothalamus.

[Clinical efficacy of the Porges Urospiral, a reversible intraprostatic spiral stent, in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy].

The Porges Urospiral, a urethral spiral stent made of stainless steel wire, is designed for patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the stent, a prospective uncontrolled study was performed on 60 patients who complained of urinary retention (48 patients) or severe dysuria (12 patients) due to prostatic hypertrophy. Four patients had neurogenic disorders resulting in bladder dysfunction. The average age of the patients was 77.4 years old, ranging from 61 to 91 years old. In 48 patients, the stent was used instead of transurethral resection of the prostate (TUR-P) because of the patients poor general conditions, while in 12 patients the stent was transiently used until TUR-P. Subjective symptoms, according to an original scoring system, and objective signs, uroflowmetry measurements and residual urine volume, before and 3 months after stent insertion were compared. The stent was indwelt for more than 3 months in 40 of the 57 patients in whom the stent could be inserted. Out of 37 evaluable patients, subjective symptoms improved in all the patients and objective symptoms improved in 26 patients (70.3%). Complications included urinary incontinence, urination pain, urethral pain, gross hematuria or migration of the stent. Although these complications disappeared in a few days after the insertion of the stent in a majority of the patients, the stent was removed in 17 patients due to complications within 3 months after insertion. The overall clinical efficacy of this stent was 56% in 50 evaluable patients who had no neurogenic disorders.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)