Prevention of Postdental Procedure Bacteremia: A Network Meta-analysis.

Postdental procedure bacteremia is common and troublesome. The comparative efficacy of multiple prophylactic interventions is unclear. We compared the efficacy of interventions for the prevention of postdental procedure bacteremia. We conducted a review of ClinicalKey, Cochrane CENTRAL, Embase, ProQuest, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and ClinicalTrials.gov from inception to December 4, 2018. Randomized controlled trials that evaluated prophylactic interventions for the prevention of postdental procedure bacteremia were eligible. The primary outcome was the incidence of postdental procedure bacteremia. A total of 24 trials were included with 2,147 participants. Our network meta-analysis demonstrated that intravenous administration of 1,000/200 mg of amoxicillin/clavulanate provided the least incidence of postdental procedure bacteremia among all the prophylactic interventions (odds ratio = 0.03, 95% CI = 0.00 to 0.63) as compared with the placebo/controls. Oral 3 g of amoxicillin had the least incidence of postdental procedure bacteremia among all oral or topical forms of prophylactic interventions (odds ratio = 0.10, 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.44) as compared with the placebo/controls. No serious adverse events, such as anaphylactic shock, mortality, and the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, were reported. None of the included subjects were of high risk of infectious endocarditis. Our network meta-analysis demonstrates that intravenous amoxicillin/clavulanate and oral amoxicillin might be the best prophylactic interventions in preventing postdental procedure bacteremia among all the oral/topical forms of interventions for the overall populations.

Functional characterization of the vitellogenin promoter in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.

Genetic transformation and genome editing technologies have been successfully established in the lepidopteran insect model, the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, providing great potential for functional genomics and practical applications. However, the current lack of cis-regulatory elements in B. mori gene manipulation research limits further exploitation in functional gene analysis. In the present study, we characterized a B. mori endogenous promoter, Bmvgp, which is a 798-bp DNA sequence adjacent to the 5'-end of the vitellogenin gene (Bmvg). PiggyBac-based transgenic analysis shows that Bmvgp precisely directs expression of a reporter gene, enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), in a sex-, tissue- and stage-specific manner. In transgenic animals, EGFP expression can be detected in the female fat body from larval-pupal ecdysis to the following pupal and adult stage. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments revealed that EGFP expression can be activated by 20-hydroxyecdysone, which is consistent with endogenous Bmvg expression. These data indicate that Bmvgp is an effective endogenous cis-regulatory element in B. mori.

Effects of hepatocyte growth-promoting factor and panax notoginseng saponins on intrasplenic hepatocellular autotransplantation.

AIM: To increase the weight of liver tissue mass present in spleen and to shorten the regeneration period of transplanted hepatocytes by stimulating DNA synthesis and protection against ischemic-reperfusion injury. METHODS: Hepatocyte growth-promoting factor (PHGF) and panax notoginseng saponins (PNGS) were used after intrasplenic hepatocellular autologous transplantation (IHAT) with 70 % partial hepatectomy. Histological examinations were carried out under both light and electron microscopy and content of ALT in hepatized spleen homogenate was investigated 2 weeks after transplantation. Furthermore, 99mTc diethyl-iminodiacetic acid (99mTc-HIDA) splenic scintiphotography was carried out and proliferation index of transplanted hepatocytes was detected by flow cytometry at the 12th week after operation. RESULTS: (1) Hepatocellular degeneration was slightly less in group B [intrasplenic hepatocyte autologous transplantation (IHAT) + PNGS 25 mg/kg, im, qd] vs the control group (group C, IHAT without drugs) at the 2nd week after transplantation, and the ALT content of group B (928 U/g +/- 268 U/g) was higher than that of group C (639 U/g +/- 138 U/g, P < 0.01). (2) At the 12th week, hepatocellular regeneration in group A (IHAT + PHGF 5 mg/kg, im, qd) was obviously better than that in group C, and the ALT content (2325 U/g +/- 401 U/g ), the radioactivity accumulation of 99mTc-HIDA (58 Bq +/- 18 Bq), and proliferation index (3.8 % +/- 0.4 %) of group A were all higher than those of control (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: PHGF has effects in increasing the weight of liver tissue grown in spleen and shortening the regeneration period of the transplanted hepatocytes, while PNGS has certain effects on protecting the hepatocytes against ischemic reperfusion injury in the early stage of transplantation.