Metagenomic Analysis Reveals A Possible Association Between Respiratory Infection and Periodontitis.

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that is characterized by progressive destruction of the periodontium and causes tooth loss in adults. Periodontitis is known to be associated with dysbiosis of the oral microflora, which is often linked to various diseases. However, the complexity of plaque microbial communities of periodontitis, antibiotic resistance, and enhanced virulence make this disease difficult to treat. In this study, using metagenomic shotgun sequencing, we investigated the etiology, antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), and virulence genes (VirGs) of periodontitis. We revealed a significant shift in the composition of oral microbiota as well as several functional pathways that were represented significantly more abundantly in periodontitis patients than in controls. In addition, we observed several positively selected ARGs and VirGs with the Ka/Ks ratio > 1 by analyzing our data and a previous periodontitis dataset, indicating that ARGs and VirGs in oral microbiota may be subjected to positive selection. Moreover, 5 of 12 positively selected ARGs and VirGs in periodontitis patients were found in the genomes of respiratory tract pathogens. Of note, 91.8% of the background VirGs with at least one non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism for natural selection were also from respiratory tract pathogens. These observations suggest a potential association between periodontitis and respiratory infection at the gene level. Our study enriches the knowledge of pathogens and functional pathways as well as the positive selection of antibiotic resistance and pathogen virulence in periodontitis patients, and provides evidence at the gene level for an association between periodontitis and respiratory infection.

Nobiletin inhibits cell growth through restraining aerobic glycolysis via PKA-CREB pathway in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Nobiletin is a polymethoxylated flavone enriched in Citrus and is used as an important drug in traditional Chinese medicine for various kinds of diseases. Among its multiple functions, it has shown that nobiletin inhibits proliferation of various cancer cells. However, it is unclear whether nobiletin inhibits the growth of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We explored the antitumor effects of nobiletin in TCA-8113 and CAL-27 oral squamous cells. The Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay was used to measure cell vitality. Flow cytometry was performed to measure the number of cells in the various phases of the cell cycle. PCR and Western blot were applied to determine mRNA and protein expression, respectively. RESULTS: Nobiletin inhibited proliferation of TCA-8113 and CAL-27 cells via inducing cell cycle arrest at the G1 phase. In addition, the levels of phosphorylated-PKA and phosphorylated-CREB were reduced in nobiletin-treated TCA-8113 and CAL-27 cells. Importantly, our results showed that nobiletin treatment resulted in impaired mitochondrial function and altered glucose consumption, and pyruvate and lactate production. Lastly, nobiletin was found to inhibit the generation of xenografts in vivo. Interestingly, administration of 50 µmol/L Sp-cAMP, a potent PKA activator, rescued all phenotypes caused by nobiletin. CONCLUSIONS: Nobiletin inhibits OSCC cell proliferation in a mitochondria-dependent manner, indicating that it may have a promising role in cancer treatment and attenuation of drug resistance.

Clinical features and risk factors of neurological involvement in Sjögren's syndrome.

BACKGROUND: To investigated distinct manifestations of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) patients with neurological complications and the potential risk factors associated with neurological complications in SS, and to produce a disease evaluation and neurological involvement prediction for SS. METHODS: 566 patients who fulfilled the 2002 classification criteria for SS from the Rheumatology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were included in the cross-sectional study. Clinical, immunological and histological characteristics were surveyed, and potential risk factors for neurological complications were examined by multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Among 566 SS patients, 184 (32.5%) patients had neurological involvement, with more than 10% got limbs pain, limbs numbness and cerebral infarction, respectively. Of these 184 SS patients with neurological complications, secondary SS (sSS) patients had a higher prevalence of peripheral nervous system (PNS) involvement than primary SS (pSS) patients (31.1 vs. 19%). And sSS patients showed higher total ESSPRI score and higher prevalence of xerostomia and low C3, C4 levels with more liver, articular involvement and saliva gland atrophy, and more severe lymphocyte infiltration in salivary glands than pSS patients. As for the specific factors associated with neurological involvement, low C3 level were found to be significant in pSS or sSS patients who were younger 50 year old, and ANA positivity, cardiac involvement, saliva gland atrophy were demonstrated to be associated in elder pSS patients. And xerophthalmia was found to be associated in sSS patients. CONCLUSION: Low complement (C3) levels, xerophthalmia, ANA positive, cardiac involvement and labial salivary gland histological result were good ways to predict neurological complications in different subgroups of SS, which might provide insight into better clinical decision-making, especially at early stages of the disease.

Curcumin analog EF24 induces apoptosis and downregulates the mitogen activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated signaling pathway in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Diphenyldifluoroketone (EF24) is a curcumin analog that has been demonstrated to improve anticancer activity; however, its therapeutic potential and mechanisms in oral cancer remain unknown. In the present study, the effect of EF24 on apoptosis induction and its potential underlying mechanism in the CAL­27 human OSCC cell line was investigated. To achieve this, various concentrations of cisplatin or EF24 were administrated to CAL­27 cells for 24 h, and cell viability, apoptotic DNA fragmentation, and cleaved caspase 3 and 9 levels were evaluated. To investigate the potential underlying mechanism, the levels of mitogen­activated protein kinase kinase 1 (MEK1) and extracellular signal­regulated kinase (ERK), two key proteins in the mitogen­activated protein kinase/ERK signaling pathway, were additionally examined. The results indicated that EF24 and cisplatin treatment decreased cell viability. EF24 treatment increased the levels of activated caspase 3 and 9, and decreased the phosphorylated forms of MEK1 and ERK. Sequential treatments of EF24 and 12­phorbol­13­myristate acetate, a MAPK/ERK activator, resulted in a significant increase of activated MEK1 and ERK, and reversed cell viability. These results suggested that EF24 has potent anti­tumor activity in OSCC via deactivation of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway. Further analyses using animal models are required to confirm these findings in vivo.

Isolated Influences of Surgery Repair on Maxillofacial Growth in Complete Unilateral Cleft Lip and Palate.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the maxillofacial morphologic characteristics of children with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) with and without surgical correction and better understand the relation between surgery and inhibition of maxillary growth. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Lateral cephalometric radiography was performed in 3 groups of 9-year-old children: 1) 20 whose UCLP was repaired in infancy; 2) 20 who had no surgical repair or any relevant treatments; and 3) 20 without UCLP who served as controls. RESULTS: Marked morphologic deviations of patients in groups 1 and 2 compared with the control group were observed in the cranial base angle, maxillary heights, length and shape of the mandible, and anteroposterior jaw relation. Facial morphology was similar between groups 1 and 2 except for less vertical maxillary height and more obtuse gonial angle in group 1. CONCLUSION: The facial morphology of children with UCLP differs markedly from that of normal children. The differences can be ascribed to the difference in the primary anomaly in the UCLP groups, but isolated surgery has minor effects on growth disturbances.

[Infections of the head and neck leading to descending necrotizing mediastinitis: management of 9 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To report nine cases of descending necrotizing mediastinitis (DNM) and to summarize the management experience. METHODS: Between December 2005 and December 2008, nine patients (mean age, 55.7 years; age range, 38 to 78 years) with DNM were treated. Eight patients underwent surgical drainage of the involved cervical region and mediastinum (4 with cervical drainage alone; 4 with cervical drainage and right thoracotomy). RESULTS: Two patients died, one of them refused surgical therapy and the other one died of multiorgan failure related to postoperative septic shock. Seven patients recovered. The mortality rate was 22%. CONCLUSIONS: Delayed diagnosis and inadequate drainage are the main causes of high mortality rate of DNM. Aggressive surgical drainage and debridement of the neck and mediastinum by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons are very important in the treatment of DNM.

[Application of parasymphyseal mandible osteotomy combined with set-back tongue flap in treatment of tongue base carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of the approach of parasymphyseal mandible osteotomy combined with set-back tongue flap in treatment of tongue base carcinoma. METHODS: In total 18 patients with cancer of tongue base, 13 were males and 5 females aged of 30 to 65 y (average 52.9 y). Eighteen patients were treated by parasymphyseal mandible osteotomy combined with set-back tongue flap in our hospital from June 2001 to June 2006. RESULT: The range of follow-up period was 2 to 5 years. All patients had satisfactory speech, swallowing and taste function. CONCLUSION: Parasymphyseal mandible osteotomy provides good exposure, and set-back tongue flap to reconstruction of the base of tongue can partially restore the function of tongue.