Platelet-Rich Plasma Injection in Patients with Atrophic Rhinitis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection in patients with atrophic rhinitis. METHODS: Prepared PRP was injected into the inferior turbinate bilaterally, and nasal bacterial cultures were conducted. Improvement of symptoms was assessed with the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) and the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 (SNOT-22). Nasal mucociliary clearance was assessed using the saccharin transit time (STT). RESULTS: In the PRP-injected group (group A), NOSE (throughout the study) and SNOT-22 (1 month after injection) scores were significantly decreased during the study. However, the saline spray group (group B) showed no significant nasal symptom improvement during the study period. In group A, the STT was improved until 3 months after the injection. In contrast, group B showed STT improvement after 2 months that was maintained throughout the study. CONCLUSION: PRP injections can improve nasal symptoms and nasal mucociliary function in patients with atrophic rhinitis.

Efficacy of toluidine blue in the diagnosis and screening of oral cancer and pre-cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIMS: The accuracy of toluidine blue (TB) and chemiluminescence for diagnosing oral cancer and pre-cancer was evaluated. METHODS: Two authors (working independently) comprehensively reviewed six databases (PubMed, Cochrane database, Embase, Web of Science, SCOPUS and Google Scholar) from their dates of inception until March 2020. Oral mucosal disorder, as detected by TB, was compared with that detected by chemiluminescence. True-positive, true-negative, false-positive and false-negative data were extracted for each study. Methodological quality was evaluated using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (ver. 2). The extent of interrater agreement was also assessed. RESULTS: Twenty-nine prospective and retrospective studies were included. The diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of TB was 7.017 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.544; 10.836). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.766. The correlation between the sensitivity and the false-positive rate was 0.196, indicating the absence of heterogeneity. TB exhibited moderate interrater reliability (0.6777; 95% CI, 0.43; 0.7455). Compared with chemiluminescence, as used in nine studies, TB had a lower sensitivity (0.659 vs 0.841), but a higher specificity (0.809 vs 0.345), negative predictive value (0.766 vs 0.690) and DOR (10.565 vs 5.203). Compared with clinical examination, as used in four studies, TB method had a higher sensitivity (0.891 vs 0.891), specificity (0.739 vs 0.634), negative predictive value (0.920 vs 0.714) and DOR (28.491 vs 8.526). Subgroup analysis showed that screening for severe dysplasia or more severe disease was significantly more sensitive, but less specific, than screening for all dysplasias. CONCLUSIONS: Although the diagnostic accuracy of TB in the diagnostic work-up of oral cancer and pre-cancer was higher than that of clinical examination, it was not high enough for TB to reliably be used alone. Instead, it should be combined with chemiluminescence or other diagnostic tools.

Methylene Blue as a Diagnosis and Screening Tool for Oral Cancer and Precancer.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the accuracy of methylene blue (MB) for diagnosing oral cancer and precancer. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Cochrane Database, Embase, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar. REVIEW METHODS: Two authors working independently reviewed 6 databases from their dates of inception until April 2020. Studies exploring oral mucosal disorders as detected by MB were assessed. True-positive, true-negative, false-positive, and false-negative data were extracted for each study. Methodological quality was evaluated with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool (v 2). RESULTS: Seven prospective and retrospective studies (N = 493) were included. The diagnostic odds ratio of MB was 20.017 (95% CI, 10.65-37.63, I2 = 23%). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.699. Sensitivity was 0.903 (95% CI, 0.84-0.94, I2 = 54%), and specificity was 0.68 (95% CI, 0.60-0.75, I2 = 0%). The correlation between the sensitivity and the false-positive rate was -0.17, indicating an absence of heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding diagnostic accuracy, MB had high sensitivity but low specificity, suggesting that it cannot be recommended as a replacement for the currently used standard of a scalpel biopsy with histologic assessment. Instead, it should be used as an adjunct to conventional assessment because of its low toxicity and price.

Evidence for recent acquisition and successful transmission of bla(CTX-M-15) in Salmonella enterica in South Korea.

We identified two distinct bla(CTX-M)-bearing and five distinct bla(CMY-2)-bearing genetic structures located on plasmids from Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli isolates (n = 35) collected from chickens in South Korea. All Salmonella plasmids shared a common replicon, bla(CTX-M-15) transposon, and core resistance phenotype, while E. coli bla(CTX-M-15) plasmids included four distinct replicons.

Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis for subtyping Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum.

Salmonella enterica serovar Gallinarum causes a severe systemic disease, fowl typhoid, primarily in chickens and turkeys, and it remains a disease of worldwide significance. Multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis (MLVA) has proved to be very useful for subtyping other Salmonella serovars. We describe the development of a simple MLVA assay for S. enterica serovar Gallinarum that is comparable with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in resolution. The genome sequence of S. enterica serovar Gallinarum strain 287/91 was analysed for potential variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) and then polymerase chain reaction assays were developed to assess the variability of the loci. Four VNTR markers were selected and used in a multiplex fragment analysis assay. The stability of the VNTR markers was assessed by conducting in vitro passage experiments with two strains (95 clones per strain) over a 30-day period. A MLVA of 68 strains of S. enterica serovar Gallinarum based on the four VNTR loci distinguished 26 allelic profiles. The MLVA assay showed a Simpson's diversity index of 0.918, whereas PFGE analysis produced 23 patterns and had a diversity index of 0.874. Most importantly, the MLVA further discriminated strains having the same PFGE pattern. The MLVA assay is a highly discriminatory genotyping method for S. enterica serovar Gallinarum. Therefore, MLVA can be a useful addition to routine PFGE analysis for molecular epidemiological investigation of fowl typhoid.

Differential identification of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum based on polymorphic regions of glgC and speC genes.

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum cause fowl typhoid and pullorum disease in avian species, respectively, and have been of considerable economic importance to the poultry industry in parts of the world. The definitive diagnosis of these diseases can be made only by isolation and identification of the causative agent. However, rapid identification of biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum is not easily feasible due to their common antigenic structure and genomic sequence similarity. We developed a duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay to identify and discriminate between strains of biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum. Duplex PCR primers were designed to target polymorphic regions of glgC and speC genes showing multiple mutations in the sequenced S. enterica subsp. enterica serovar Gallinarum 287/91 genome and were applied to the specific identification of biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum. Boiled lysates of 131 reference and field strains of Salmonella and other related Gram-negative bacteria were tested to validate the duplex PCR assay. All strains of biovars Gallinarum (n=53) and Pullorum (n=21) tested were correctly identified based on this assay (100% sensitivity) while the other strains (n=57) were PCR negative (100% specificity). These results demonstrate that a highly accurate biovar-specific duplex PCR assay can be performed for the rapid identification and discrimination of biovars Gallinarum and Pullorum from field isolates.