Electromyographic activity of knee stabilizer muscles during six different balance board stimuli after anterior cruciate ligament surgery.

The purpose of this study was to compare the electrical activity of the knee stabilizers, in patients with ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstructed and uninjured individuals during different balance board stimuli. Eleven post-surgery individuals and eleven uninjured controls participated in the study. The muscular activity of the vastus medialis obliquus, vastus lateralis, semitendinosus, biceps femoris and gastrocnemius medial were analyzed by surface electromyography during the execution of six different balance board activities. All electromyographic data were reported as percentage of RMS mean values obtained in maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) for each muscle. When comparing the individuals with ACL reconstructed and uninjured controls, minor electromyographic activity was observed (MVIC %) for all the muscles in the surgery group (P < 0.05), however, when comparing each exercise between the groups, a statistically significant difference for vastus lateralis was demonstrated in the floor exercise (P = 0.02) and for gastrocnemius on the round board (P = 0.04). Individuals ACL reconstructed presented a decrease in muscular activity during different balance board stimuli, which suggests that compensatory alterations after ACL may still exist even after a surgery to repair an ACL rupture.

Incidence of periodontitis recurrence in treated patients with and without cultivable Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia, and Porphyromonas gingivalis: a prospective study.

A total of 98 adults previously treated for moderate to advanced periodontitis and on a trimonthly recall schedule were screened for the presence of critical levels of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella (Bacteroides) intermedia, and Porphyromonas (Bacteroides) gingivalis. Patients with at least 2 positive sites were placed in a positive group and patients without or with low levels of these bacteria in a negative group. During the 30-month study the incidence of disease recurrence was greater in the positive group, but did not reach statistical significance. Positive patients with deeper pockets tended to be at greater risk of developing recurrent disease than those with shallower pockets. In the positive group only, both A. actinomycetemcomitans recovery and antibody levels to A. actinomycetemcomitans strain NCTC 9710 (serotype c) were inversely correlated with disease recurrence. The presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia above critical levels did not reliably predict future episodes of disease recurrence in this population. The sparse recovery of P. gingivalis did not permit us to assess its diagnostic value. With the exception of P. gingivalis, for which insufficient data were available, the results indicate that the presence or absence of the above bacterial species cannot of itself serve as a reliable predictor of future episodes of recurrent disease in a population of treated patients on a regular trimonthly recall schedule.

Characterization of antibody to human phosphatidylcholine: cholesterol acyltransferase.

Purified preparations of phosphatidylcholine (lecithin): cholesterol acyltransferase (EC 2.3.1.43), were injected into goats to produce antisera reacting with this enzyme. The antisera and the gamma-globulin derived thereform were examined by the technics of immunodiffusion, immunoelectrophoresis and immunoinhibition of the enzyme. The antisera gave no precipitation lines with human high density lipoproteins (HDL) and human low density lipoproteins (LDL). A weak antibody titer towards human serum albumin was noted only after prolonged immunization. The enzymatically active band isolated from acrylamide gels gave a single arc in immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoresis. The gamma-globulin derived from the antisera inhibited human phosphatidylcholine:cholesterol acyltransferase activity.