ABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the association between serum zinc level with some inflammatory and immunity factors and the duration of hospitalization and mortality rate in patients diagnosed with Covid-19. In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were taken from polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive patients. New patients diagnosed with Covid-19, admitted to different public hospital wards, were considered eligible for entering the study. The study was done on 179 hospitalized patients diagnosed with Covid-19. Fourteen patients died during the hospitalization and the in-hospital mortality rate was 7.8%, with 9.1% (13 patients) of patients with serum zinc level less than 70 mcg/dL and 3.4% (1 patient) of patients with zinc levels more than 70 mcg/dL. Higher levels of zinc were significantly associated with a higher and lower level of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) (p-value = 0.035) and interleukin (IL)-6 (p-value = 0.004), respectively. The level of serum zinc did not have a significant association with mortality even after adjusting for confounding factors. The relationship between zinc level and the duration of hospitalization was also not significant. In conclusion, serum zinc level had an association with IL-6 and IFN-γ level, but it did not have any significant association with hospital duration or mortality.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a new imidazolium-based silver nanoparticle (ImSNP) root canal irrigant on the bond strength of AH-Plus sealer to root canal dentine. Methods and Materials: Forty single-rooted extracted human teeth were used in this study. The crowns were resected and according to the irrigation solutions used during root canal preparation, the roots were divided into 5 groups (n=8): Group 1: normal saline (control group), Group 2: 2.5% Sodium Hypochlorite (NaOCl), Group 3: 2.5% NaOCl+17% ethylene diamin tetracetic acid (EDTA), Group 4: silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), Group 5: AgNPs +17% EDTA. After root canal instrumentation, the canals were filled with AH-Plus. Then, after 7 days, 2 or 3 dentine disks were obtained from the mid-root of each sample. Bond strength was measured by the push-out test. Additionally, failure patterns were classified as adhesive, cohesive and mixed. Data were statistically analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tamhane post hoc tests. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant differences between groups (P>0.05). Groups 4 (AgNPs), 3 (2.5% NaOCl+17% EDTA) and 2 (2.5% NaOCl) showed statistically higher bond strength compared to group 1 (control group) (P<0.05). Also, Group 4 showed a significant difference with group 5 (AgNPs+17% EDTA) (P=0.017). The failure patterns were mainly cohesive. Conclusion: This in vitro study showed that, when used without EDTA, AgNPs improved the bond strength of AH-Plus to radicular dentine.
