Salivary levels of five microorganisms of root caries in nursing home elderly: a preliminary investigation.

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus and Actinomyces are acidogenic aciduria that may be associated with root caries (RC). The aim of the study was to analyze Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), Streptococcus sobrinus (S. sobrinus), Bifidobacterium spp., Lactobacillus spp. and Actinomyces naeslundii (A. naeslundii) in the saliva of nursing home elderly, to assess the correlation between bacterial composition and RC for five putative catiogenic organisms. METHODS: In this study, we collected 43 saliva samples and divided into two groups: the root caries group (RCG, n = 21) and the caries-free group (CFG, n = 22). Bacterial DNA was extracted from the saliva samples. The presence and abundance of the five microorganisms were detected by Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). Spearman correlation test was performed to evaluate the relationship between the numbers of root decayed filled surfaces (RDFS) and root caries index (RCI) and salivary levels of the bacteria. RESULTS: The salivary levels of S. mutans, S. sobrinus, Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. were significantly higher in RCG than in CFG (p < 0.05). RDFS and RCI (RDFS/RCI) were positively associated with salivary levels of S. mutans, S. sobrinus and Bifidobacterium spp. (r = 0.658/0.635, r = 0.465/0.420 and r = 0.407/0.406, respectively). No significant differences in presence and amounts of A. naeslundii was observed between the two groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: S. mutans, S. sobrinus and Bifidobacterium spp. in saliva appear to be associated with RC in the elderly. Taken together, the findings indicate that specific salivary bacteria may be involved in the progression of RC.

Type 1-3 Canal Configuration in the Buccal Root of a Maxillary Second Molar.

Objectives: A major challenge in root canal treatment is the complex and variable root canal system. There are several methods of classification of root canal systems. Herein, we report a case of a maxillary second molar, the root canal system of which could not be classified according to any of the previous methods. Case Report. Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), used to visualize the root canal system of a maxillary left second molar with fused roots, revealed a type 1-3 root canal system in the buccal root and a type 1-1 root canal system in the palatal root. A dental operating microscope was used throughout the treatment, and the root canals were successfully obturated. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the classification of buccal roots of maxillary second molars. Clinical Significance. A dental operating microscope and CBCT play a vital role in mapping the root canal system to ensure that no canal is missed.

Expert consensus on dental caries management.

Dental Caries is a kind of chronic oral disease that greatly threaten human being's health. Though dentists and researchers struggled for decades to combat this oral disease, the incidence and prevalence of dental caries remain quite high. Therefore, improving the disease management is a key issue for the whole population and life cycle management of dental caries. So clinical difficulty assessment system of caries prevention and management is established based on dental caries diagnosis and classification. Dentists should perform oral examination and establish dental records at each visit. When treatment plan is made on the base of caries risk assessment and carious lesion activity, we need to work out patient­centered and personalized treatment planning to regain oral microecological balance, to control caries progression and to restore the structure and function of the carious teeth. And the follow-up visits are made based on personalized caries management. This expert consensus mainly discusses caries risk assessment, caries treatment difficulty assessment and dental caries treatment plan, which are the most important parts of caries management in the whole life cycle.

Chitosan/collagen scaffold containing bone morphogenetic protein-7 DNA supports dental pulp stem cell differentiation in vitro and in vivo.

In this study, porous chitosan/collagen scaffolds were prepared through a freeze-drying process, and loaded with the plasmid vector encoding human bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) gene. To investigate the feasibility and efficacy of this gene-activated scaffold on dental tissue engineering, human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) were seeded in this scaffold for in vitro and in vivo study. In vitro results indicated that cells can be transfected successfully by loaded plasmid and secrete BMP-7 until day 24. Evaluation of DNA content, ALP activity, calcium content, SEM, and real-time PCR revealed that cells on gene-activated scaffold showed better proliferation properties and odontoblastic differentiation behaviors than cells on pure scaffolds. Then, these cell-scaffold complexes were implanted subcutaneously and retrieved after 4 weeks for histology evaluation. In vivo results that gene-activated scaffold group could still trace the existence of tranfected cells at week 4 and showed the upregulated expression of DSPP compared to pure scaffold groups. On the basis of our results, chitosan/collagen-loaded BMP-7 DNA appears to be an effective substrate candidate for gene delivery and indeed enhanced DPSCs differentiation toward an odontoblast-like phenotype in vitro and in vivo. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A:, 2012.

The Combinations Chitosan-Pam3CSK4 and Chitosan-Monophosphoryl Lipid A: Promising Immune-Enhancing Adjuvants for Anticaries Vaccine PAc.

We previously demonstrated that recombinant protein PAc could be administered as an anticaries vaccine. However, the relatively weak immunogenicity of PAc limits its application. In the present study, we investigated the effect of two adjuvant combinations of chitosan plus Pam3CSK4 (chitosan-Pam3CSK4) and of chitosan plus monophosphoryl lipid A (chitosan-MPL) in the immune responses to the PAc protein in vivo and in vitro PAc-chitosan-Pam3CSK4 or PAc-chitosan-MPL promoted significantly higher PAc-specific antibody titers in serum and saliva, inhibited Streptococcus mutans colonization onto the tooth surfaces, and endowed better protection effect with significantly less caries activities than PAc alone. Chitosan-Pam3CSK4 and chitosan-MPL showed no statistically significant differences. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the chitosan-Pam3CSK4 and chitosan-MPL combinations are promising for anticaries vaccine development.

Identification of FimH derivatives as adjuvant vaccinated with PAc that enhance protection against Streptcoccus mutans colonization.

FimH is the adhesin of type I fimbriae expressed on Escherichia coli that can mediate specific adherence to host cells. High binding mutations in FimH are related to the adaptive evolution of bacteria. However, additional roles that these allelic variations may play remain elusive. To investigate novel biological functions of the mutations in FimH, we introduced four different variants of FimH by incorporating single amino acid substitutions at specific sites, namely A25P, G73R, A106, and T158P, respectively. In this study, adjuvant potential of FimH variants was evaluated by investigating their ability to trigger innate immune response to DC2.4 and adaptive immunity to improve immunological characteristics. The data revealed that purified A106 and T158P up-regulated the expression of co-stimulatory molecules critically involved in DC2.4 activation by interaction with TLR4, whereas A25P and G73R did not induce the phenotypic maturation of DC2.4. Besides, the culture of DC2.4 with A106 and T158P enhanced the release of cytokines and protein phagocytosis. When formulated with PAc, T158P elicited more robust PAc-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses compared to PBS, PAc and PAc+K12 groups and inhibited bacteria colonization. Collectively, the results confirmed that the T158P mutation located around the inter-domain interface of the protein induced a specific enhancement effect on adjuvant characteristics.

FimH as a mucosal adjuvant enhances persistent antibody response and protective efficacy of the anti-caries vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the recombinant FimH-S.T protein could modulate immune response to anti-caries vaccine in vitro and in vivo. DESIGN: Recombinant FimH protein derived from Salmonella was constructed and purified. The expression of dendritic cell maturation markers and cytokines release were performed by flow cytometry, Real-time PCR and ELISA. In addition, BALB/c mice were administered with anti-caries PAc vaccine plus FimH-S.T, antibody responses were evaluated by ELISA. Splenocytes of immunized mice were detected for their proliferative ability in response to in vitro retreatment with PAc antigen by flow cytometry. Caries protection against dental caries formation was also investigated. RESULTS: The purified FimH-S.T induced phenotypic maturation of DC2.4 by up-regulating the expression of costimulatory molecules and MHC II, provoked the production and secretion of cytokines via TLR4-dependent signaling pathway in vitro. Furthermore, the mice immunized with the mixture of FimH-S.T and PAc significantly enhanced the PAc-specific antibodies in the serum along with saliva and promoted splenocyte proliferation. Our results also confirmed that PAc+FimH-S.T decreased the caries lesions formation which provided high protective efficacy against dental caries. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that recombinant FimH-S.T could enhance specific IgA responses and protection of anti-caries vaccine, possessing mucosal adjuvant ability by activating DC2.4 via TLR4 signaling pathway.

DLX3 Inhibits the Proliferation of Human Dental Pulp Cells Through Inactivation of Canonical Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling Pathway.

Homeodomain gene Distal-less-3 (Dlx3) plays an important role during tooth development. Our previous studies indicate that DLX3 inhibits proliferation of human dental pulp cells (hDPCs). However, the mechanism of DLX3 regulating proliferation of hDPCs and maintaining the quiescence of the cells remain unknown. Given the importance of canonical Wnt signaling in the proliferation of dental pulp cell and tooth development, we hypothesized that DLX3 inhibited proliferation of hDPCs through inactivation of canonical Wnt signaling. With overexpression or knock-down of DLX3 in primary hDPCs, we found DLX3 down regulated canonical Wnt signaling and its downstream target genes. And when the DLX3 overexpressed-cells were treated with lithium chloride, the proliferation inhibition by DLX3 was reversed. We also found that DLX3 enhanced the expression of DKK1 and the reduced proliferation of hDPCs by DLX3 was reversed with knock-down of DKK1. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation assay showed DLX3 was able to bind to Dkk1 promoter region from nucleotides (nt) -1656 to -1245, and stimulated Dkk1 promoter activity. Mutagenesis studies further revealed two DLX3 responsive elements in Dkk1 promoter. Taken together, our data indicate that DLX3 inhibits proliferation of hDPCs via inactivation of Wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway by directly binding to Dkk1 promoter and increasing its expression.

Self-assembling anticaries mucosal vaccine containing ferritin cage nanostructure and glucan-binding region of S. mutans glucosyltransferase effectively prevents caries formation in rodents.

Anticaries protein vaccines that induce a mucosal immune response are not effective. Therefore, development of effective and convenient anticaries vaccines is a priority of dental research. Here we generated self-assembling nanoparticles by linking the glucan-binding region of Streptococcus mutans glucosyltransferase (GLU) to the N-terminal domain of ferritin to determine whether these novel nanoparticles enhanced the immunogenicity of an anticaries protein vaccine against GLU in rodents. We constructed the expression plasmid pET28a-GLU-FTH and purified the proteins from bacteria using size-exclusion chromatography. BALB/c mice were used to evaluate the ability of GLU-ferritin (GLU-FTH) nanoparticles to induce GLU-specific mucosal and systemic responses. The protective efficiency of GLU-FTH nanoparticles was compared with that of GLU alone or a mixture of GLU and poly(I:C) after administering an intranasal infusion to Wistar rats. The phagocytosis and maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) exposed in vitro to the nanoparticles were assessed using flow cytometry. The GLU-FTH nanoparticle vaccine elicited significantly higher levels of GLU-specific antibodies compared with GLU or a mixture of GLU and poly(I:C). Immunization with GLU-FTH achieved lower caries scores compared with those of the other vaccines. Administration of GLU-FTH nanoparticles enhanced phagocytosis by DCs and their maturation. Thus, self-assembling GLU-FTH is a highly effective anticaries mucosal vaccine that enhanced antibody production and inhibited S. mutans infection in rodents.

Retention Rate of Four Different Sealant Materials after Four Years.

PURPOSE: To test the hypotheses: 1) cumulative survival rates of fully and partially retained high-viscosity glass-ionomer (HVGIC) ART sealants with heat application and glass-carbomer sealants on occlusal and free-smooth surfaces are both higher than that of resin sealants; 2) cumulative survival rate of fully and partially retained high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART sealant with heat application on occlusal and free-smooth surfaces is higher than that of comparable ART sealants without heat application. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The block-randomised clinical trial covered 405 eight-year-old children. The HVGIC was Ketac Molar Easymix, the glass carbomer was GlassCarbomer and the resin sealant was Clinpro. Retention rates of sealants on occlusal and free-smooth surfaces using conventional and modified categorisation (fully and partially retained sealants vs those completely lost [at least one-third of surface re-exposed]) were the dependent variables. The Kaplan-Meier survival method was used. RESULTS: The cumulative survival rate of completely and partially retained resin sealants on occlusal (81.2%) and free-smooth (81%) surfaces after 4 years was statistically significantly higher, and that of glass-carbomer sealants (10.8% and 21.1%, respectively) was statistically significantly lower than those of the other sealant groups. There was no statistically significant difference in survival rates of completely and partially retained high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART sealants with (56% for both surfaces) or without heat application (56%) on occlusal and free-smooth surfaces (55.7% and 59.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Resin sealants had the highest and glass-carbomer sealants the lowest retention rate after 4 years. Application of heat to high-viscosity glass-ionomer ART sealants did not result in a significantly higher sealant retention rate. Use of the modified categorisation for determining sealant retention is advocated.

MicroRNA-195-5p Regulates Osteogenic Differentiation of Periodontal Ligament Cells Under Mechanical Loading.

Osteogenic differentiation and bone formation are tightly regulated by several factors, including microRNAs (miRNAs). However, miRNA expression patterns and function during mechanical loading-induced osteogenic differentiation of human periodontal ligament cells (PDLCs) remain unclear. Here, we investigated the differential expression of miRNA-195-5p in the periodontal tissues of mice under orthodontic mechanical loading and in primary human PDLCs exposed to a simulated tension strain. The miR-195-5p was observed to be down-regulated and negatively correlated with osteogenic differentiation. Overexpression of miR-195-5p significantly inhibited PDLC differentiation under cyclic tension strain (CTS), whereas the functional inhibition of miR-195-5p yielded an opposite effect. Further experiments confirmed that WNT family member 3A (WNT3A), fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2), and bone morphogenetic protein receptor-1A (BMPR1A), proteins important for osteogenic activity and stability, were direct targets of miR-195-5p. Mechanical loading increased the WNT3A, FGF2, and BMPR1A protein levels, while miR-195-5p inhibited WNT3A, FGF2, and BMPR1A protein expression. WNT, FGF, and BMP signaling were involved in osteogenic differentiation of PDLCs under CTS. Further study confirmed that reintroduction of WNT3A and BMPR1A can rescue the inhibition of miR-195-5p on osteogenic differentiation of PDLCs. Our findings are the first to demonstrate that miR-195-5p is a mechanosensitive gene that plays an important role in mechanical loading-induced osteogenic differentiation and bone formation.

Frequency of remnants of sealants left behind in pits and fissures of occlusal surfaces after 2 and 3 years.

OBJECTIVES: The null-hypothesis tested was that there was no difference in the frequency of remnants of high-viscosity glass-ionomer sealants left behind in pits and fissures of occlusal surfaces of first permanent molars and that of resin composite and glass-carbomer sealants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on the results of a sealant trial, a sample of sealed teeth from which the material had apparently completely disappeared from at least one of the three sections into which the occlusal surface was divided, assessed through visible clinical examination, was also assessed from images of colour photographs and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) as the reference image. The sample size consisted of 112 and 120 teeth from 59 and 98 children at evaluation years 2 and 3 respectively. Two examiners performed the assessments. Fisher's Exact Test was applied to test for the differences between the dependent variable and the sealant groups. RESULTS: The remnants of sealant material left in the deeper parts of pits and fissures were assessed from colour photograph and SEM images in five sections at year 2 and in eight sections at year 3. The assessment found no sealant group effect. CONCLUSION: The frequency of remnants of glass-ionomer sealant in pits and fissures of occlusal surfaces in first permanent molars is not higher than the frequency of glass-carbomer and resin sealants after 2 and 3 years. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Contrary to the current assumption, there appears to be no significant difference in the frequency of remnants left behind in pits and fissures between glass-ionomer and resin sealants.

HnRNP L is important for the expression of oncogene SRSF3 and oncogenic potential of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the leading cause of death related to oral diseases. The mechanisms of OSCC development remain largely unknown. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein L (HnRNP L) is a multi-functional splicing factor. It has been reported to be an important regulator of apoptosis. However, the functions of hnRNP L in cancer need to be further explored. In the present study, we found that OSCC tissues expressed significantly higher levels of hnRNP L than normal tissues. Depletion of hnRNP L retarded cell growth, cell migration, and tumorigenesis of OSCC cells. HnRNP L regulates both the expression of oncogenic splicing factor SRSF3 and the alternative splicing of SRSF3 exon 4. Expression of hnRNP L is correlated with SRSF3 expression in OSCC tissues. These findings suggest that hnRNP L is important for the pathogenesis of OSCC and may be a novel potential therapeutic target of OSCC.

Cost-effectiveness, in a randomized trial, of glass-ionomer-based and resin sealant materials after 4 yr.

This study, conducted from a government program perspective, compared the incremental cost-effectiveness of oral health interventions, in particular their delivery to underserved populations in whom dental sealants constitute an important, high-yielding complement to toothbrushing in dental-caries prevention. The study data concern the relative cost-effectiveness of three sealant materials in four approaches to prevent cavitated dentine carious lesions in permanent molars in a community intervention trial among school-age children in Wuhan, China. The four approaches were high-viscosity glass-ionomer cement without heat application (HVGIC); high-viscosity glass-ionomer cement with heat application [light-emitting diode (LED) thermocured HVGIC]; glass-carbomer; and composite resin. The costs studied were: cost of sealing permanent molars; adverse event costs for restoring cavitated dentine carious lesions developing within 4 yr in study data; and projections of 1,000 sealants per group. Preventing one more cavitated dentine carious lesion cost US$105 for the study data when comparing HVGIC (n = 405) with composite resin (n = 396) and US$59 per 1,000 sealants in the projections; LED thermocured HVGIC compared with composite resin cost US$115 for one more cavitated lesion and US$52 per 1,000 sealants, respectively. Although more expensive than composite resin, LED thermocured HVGIC was identified as the most cost-effective among the sealant materials studied. Ease of application, minimal technical and infrastructure requirements, and cost-effectiveness make glass-ionomers a practicable option for governments making decisions under economic constraints.

Inhibitory effect of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on Porphyromonas gingivalis-induced inflammation and bone resorption in vivo.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether intragastric administration of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) could inhibit the bone resorption and inflammation in a mouse calvarial model infected by Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis). DESIGN: Live P. gingivalis ATCC 33277 was injected once daily for 6days into the subcutaneous tissue overlying the calvaria in mice. At the same time, 1,25(OH)2D3 (50µg/kg per day) was administered by gavage for 9days, starting 3d before the infection. Mice were killed under ether anesthesia 8h after the last injection of P. gingivalis. Micro-computed tomography scanning was used to evaluate calvarial bone loss. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase was used to detect osteoclast activity. Real-time PCR was used to assess the mRNA expressions of OPG, RANKL, c-Fos, NFATc1, CTSK and TRAP in calvarial bone and IL-6, IL-10, IL-1ß, IL-12p40 and TNF-α in soft tissue. The levels of serum IL-6, IL-10 were determined by ELISA. RESULTS: 1,25(OH)2D3 treatment apparently attenuated bone resorption in P. gingivalis-induced mouse calvarial model and markedly reduced the number of osteoclasts. The expression levels of RANKL and osteoclast-related genes such as c-Fos, NFATc1, CTSK and TRAP were also decreased by 1,25(OH)2D3. Besides, 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibited the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-12p40 and TNF-α and enormously elevated the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. CONCLUSION: 1,25(OH)2D3 may decrease bone resorption in vivo via suppressing the expression of osteoclast-related genes and its anti-inflammatory properties.

Immunogenicity and prediction of epitopic region of antigen Ag I/II and glucosyltransferase from Streptococcus mutans.

The levels of Streptococcus (S.) mutans infections in saliva were evaluated and a comparison for specific antibody levels among children with different levels of S. mutans infection was made. The promising epitopic regions of antigen AgI/II (PAc) and glucosyltransferase (GTF) for potential vaccine targets related to S. mutans adherence were screened. A total of 94 children aged 3-4 years were randomly selected, including 53 caries-negative and 41 caries-positive children. The values of S. mutans and those of salivary total secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), anti-PAc and anti-Glucan binding domain (anti-GLU) were compared to determine the correlation among them. It was found the level of s-IgA against specific antigens did not increase with increasing severity of S. mutans infection, and the complete amino acid sequence of PAc and GTFB was analyzed using the DNAStar Protean system for developing specific anti-caries vaccines related to S. mutans adherence. A significantly positive correlation between the amount of S. mutans and children decayed, missing, and filled teeth index was observed. No significant difference was detected in specific sIgA against PAc or GLU between any two groups. No significant correlation was found between such specific sIgA and caries index. A total of 16 peptides from PAc as well as 13 peptides from GTFB were chosen for further investigation. S. mutans colonization contributed to early children caries as an important etiological factor. The level of sIgA against specific antigens did not increase with increasing severity of S. mutans infection in children. The epitopes of PAc and GTF have been screened to develop the peptide-based or protein-based anti-caries vaccines.

Effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 on Macrophage Cytokine Secretion Stimulated by Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Vitamin D is known to be closely associated with periodontitis; however, its exact mechanisms remain to be clarified. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) on Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg)-stimulated cytokine production and the involved signaling pathways in macrophages. The main observation was that 1,25(OH)2D3 inhibited Pg-induced interleukin (IL)-6 cytokine expression but up-regulated the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Further analyses showed that 1,25(OH)2D3 decreased p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 phosphorylation. Inhibited phosphorylation of p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 was associated with decreased level of IL-6 expression, but was not related to increased level of IL-10 expression in macrophages stimulated with Pg. These results suggest that 1,25(OH)2D3 might exert its anti-inflammatory effects on Pg-stimulated macrophages partly through its inhibitory effect on the p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 signaling pathway.

Rare Root Canal Configuration of Bilateral Maxillary Second Molar Using Cone-beam Computed Tomographic Scanning.

The aim of this article was to present a right maxillary second molar with an unusual root canal morphology of 4 roots and 5 canals as confirmed by cone-beam computed tomographic (CBCT) imaging. The tooth had a C-shaped mesiobuccal root (CBCT imaging revealed that the root was closer to the palate than the buccal side) with 2 canals, 2 fused distobuccal roots with 2 separate canals, and 1 normal bulky palatal root with 1 canal. After thoroughly examining the rare anatomy, root canal treatment was applied on the tooth. This article shows the complexity of maxillary second molar variation and shows the significance of CBCT imaging in the confirmation of the 3-dimensional anatomy of teeth and endodontic treatment.

Are Carious Lesions in Previously Sealed Occlusal Surfaces Detected as well on Colour Photographs as by Visual Clinical Examination?

PURPOSE: To compare the level of agreement between carious lesion assessments according to the visual clinical examination and the colour photograph methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data on the presence of enamel/dentin carious lesions in previously sealed occlusal surfaces in first molars were obtained by two trained and calibrated examiners through visual clinical examination and from colour photographs 4 years after sealing. Kappa statistics were applied to calculate agreement between assessment methods. Data analysis was performed using sign, Bowker symmetry and McNemar's tests. RESULTS: The prevalence of dentin carious lesions was very low. The kappa coefficients for detecting enamel/dentin carious lesions using the two assessment methods were 0.65 (CI: 0.56-0.74) for examiner 1 and 0.70 (CI: 0.62-0.78) for examiner 2. Examiner 2 observed more enamel/dentin carious lesions on colour photographs than did examiner 1 (p = 0.008). Sensitivity analyses did not confirm this outcome. CONCLUSIONS: There was no difference in the detection of enamel/dentin carious lesions in previously sealed occlusal surfaces using colour photographs vs visual clinical examination. The colour photograph method is therefore equivalent to the visual clinical examination in detecting enamel/dentin carious lesions. More studies are required.

Macrophages polarization is mediated by the combination of PRR ligands and distinct inflammatory cytokines.

Macrophages recognize microbes through Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs), and then release pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Recent studies have highlighted that collaboration between different PRRs. However, these studies have neglected the crosstalk between various PRRs on macrophages. In the present study, we investigated the interplay of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptors (NLRs) (NOD1, NOD2) and TLRs (TLR1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) in terms of macrophage activation, the expression and production of cytokines. The macrophages were stimulated with a single PRR ligand or a combination of TLR and NOD ligands. After 8 h of incubation, the mRNA expression of interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12p35, IL-12p40, IL-13, and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) was evaluated. The production of these cytokines was also measured. NOD2 synergized with TLR3 agonists on enhancement of IL-10 release. However, the combination of NOD1 with TLR3 ligands showed little effect on IL-10 production. Moreover, NOD2 inhibited the percentages of CD11b + F4/80 + cells activated by TLR3 agonist.