Potential effects of advanced platelet rich fibrin as a wound-healing accelerator in the management of alveolar osteitis: A randomized clinical trial.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to determine whether the use of advanced platelet rich fibrin based on the low speed+ centrifugation concept (A-PRF+) might improve the pain management and healing of delayed wound healing among cases of alveolar osteitis following mandibular third molar extraction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The patients (N = 40) with a complaint of alveolar osteitis following third molar extractions were divided into two groups: Group I (control; saline only); and Group II (use of A-PRF+). Pain was evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS). Soft tissue healing was assessed by the modified Index of Landry, Turnbull and Howley and bone density was assessed with the i-Dixel 2.1.8.2 software. Inter-group comparisons were analyzed by means of a student t-test and the Mann Whitney U test to identify group samples. Analysis of variance and the Friedman test were applied for repeated measurements. The Wilcoxon test and Bonferroni's test for multiple comparisons were conducted at the time-factor level. Yates Correction was used to compare qualitative data. RESULTS: In regard to pain, A-PRF+ application demonstrated rapidly and continually reduced pain intensity at each respective time in comparison to the control. Statistically, the healing rates of epithelium and hard tissue were significantly faster in the A-PRF+ application group (p: 0.000, P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results show that A-PRF+ might represent an improved and accelerating therapeutic development for hard and soft tissue healing in management of alveolar osteitis that is also effective in reducing pain.

Oral mucosa and lung cancer: Are genetic changes in the oral epithelium associated with lung cancer?

AIM: To compare genetic aberrations in the oral epithelium of lung cancer patients with those without cancer. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Buccal smears were performed to collect oral epithelium from each of the participants (smoker cancer patients n = 50, smoker control subjects n = 40, and nonsmoker control subjects n = 25). Cytogenetic changes in the samples were detected by micronuclei assay, whereas p53 and murine double minute 2 (MDM2) polymorphisms were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. RESULTS: p53 codon 72 polymorphism was seen in 44% of cancer patients versus 12.5% in smokers and 12% in nonsmokers of the control group. Similarly, MDM2 single nucleotide polymorphism 309 polymorphism was seen in 34% of patients with lung cancer as opposed to 12.5% of smokers (P = 0.038) and 8% of nonsmokers (P = 0.019) of the control group. CONCLUSION: A higher proportion of individuals with lung cancer demonstrate genetic damage to oral mucosa compared to those without cancer.

Femtosecond-scale switching based on excited free-carriers.

We describe novel optical switching schemes operating at femtosecond time scales by employing free carrier (FC) excitation. Such unprecedented switching times are made possible by spatially patterning the density of the excited FCs. In the first realization, we rely on diffusion, i.e., on the nonlocality of the FC nonlinear response of the semiconductor, to erase the initial FC pattern and, thereby, eliminate the reflectivity of the system. In the second realization, we erase the FC pattern by launching a second pump pulse at a controlled delay. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the proposed approaches and demonstrate their potential applicability for switching ultrashort pulses propagating in silicon waveguides. We show switching efficiencies of up to 50% for 100 fs pump pulses, which is an unusually high level of efficiency for such a short interaction time, a result of the use of the strong FC nonlinearity. Due to limitations of saturation and pattern effects, these schemes can be employed for switching applications that require femtosecond features but standard repetition rates. Such applications include switching of ultrashort pulses, femtosecond spectroscopy (gating), time-reversal of short pulses for aberration compensation, and many more. This approach is also the starting point for ultrafast amplitude modulations and a new route toward the spatio-temporal shaping of short optical pulses.

Essential oil composition, antioxidant and antifungal activities of Salvia sclarea L. from Munzur Valley in Tunceli, Turkey.

The essential oil composition and in vitro antioxidant and antifungal activity of the Salvia sclarea L. from Munzur Valley in Tunceli, Turkey were evaluated in this research. The in vitro antifungal activity of ethanol, hexane and aqueous extracts of S. sclarea against pathogen fungi Epicoccum nigrum and Colletotrichum coccodes were investigated. The essential oil of aerial parts of S. sclarea was obtained by hydrodistillation and was analysed by GC and GC­MS. Total antioxidant status was determined by using Rel assay diagnostics TAS assay kit (Lot.RL024) by Multiscan FC (Thermo). 33 compounds were identified representing the 85.0% of the total oil. The most abundant components (>5%) of the S. sclarea essential oils were caryophyllene oxide (24.1%), sclareol (11.5%), spathulenol (11.4%), 1H-naphtho (2,1,6) pyran (8.6%) and b­caryophyllene (5.1%). The best antifungal and antioxidant effect was seen in ethanolic S. sclarea extract. It can be said that Salvia sclerae could be used as natural antioxidant.

Effect of the route of administration of methylprednisolone on oedema and trismus in impacted lower third molar surgery.

Due to their anatomical position, the surgical removal of impacted third molars results in oedema, pain, and trismus. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of supraperiosteal injection of methylprednisolone compared with an oral tablet form and intravenous (i.v.) injection in the prevention of postoperative pain and oedema associated with inflammation. This randomized, prospective, and controlled study included 44 patients. The patients were randomly divided into four groups: group 1 (control; no steroids), group 2 (local injection), group 3 (oral tablets), and group 4 (i.v. injection). On days 2 and 7 following surgery, linear oedema was determined using facial landmarks, and maximal mouth opening was measured. Postoperative mouth opening and swelling were evaluated for each route of methylprednisolone administration and compared. The female (59%) to male (41%) ratio was 1.44; the mean age of the patients was 29.6 years. The level of significance was set at P<0.01 for mouth opening and P<0.05 for oedema. With regard to trismus, all three routes of administration demonstrated better efficacy in comparison to the control. While oral administration and i.v. injection of methylprednisolone achieved similar results, masseter injection provided better results in reducing oedema and trismus when compared to the control following lower third molar surgery.

Methylprednisolone and vitamin E therapy in perinatal hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in rats.

To study the efficacy of methylprednisolone/vitamin E in reducing cerebral edema and improving the ultimate neuropathological outcome in perinatal cerebral hypoxia-ischemia, 40 seven-day postnatal rats were subjected to right common carotid artery ligation followed by exposure to 8% oxygen at 37 degrees C for 3 h. The animals were divided into groups. Twenty rat pups received an intraperitoneal injection of 30 mg/kg body weight methylprednisolone and vitamin E (100 U/kg) immediately following cerebral hypoxia-ischemia. Control animals received either no therapy (n = 10) or an equivalent volume of normal saline (n = 10). After 72 h of recovery from hypoxia-ischemia, the animals were killed and their brains were examined to measure the water contents in the right and left hemispheres (29 rat pups), whereas the others were killed at 21 days for neuropathological examination. Methylprednisolone/vitamin E-treated rats had significantly less water content in the right hemisphere (87.08 +/- 0.28%, mean +/- S.E.M.) than saline-treated animals (89.07 +/- 0.37%, mean +/- S.E.M., P < 0.0001). Methylprednisolone/vitamin E significantly reduced water content in the right hemisphere of the brain. Neuropathological study was performed on nine rat pups. The brains of four methylprednisolone/vitamin E- and five saline-treated pups were examined at the end of the 21-day recovery period. Two groups of the right cerebral cortex included thinning of the cortex. Significantly less damage was seen in the methylprednisolone/vitamin E-treated pups. Our study suggests that trials of methylprednisolone/vitamin E might be effective if they are given to the mother at risk of fetal hypoxia during labor or to the hypoxic infant right after delivery in preventing hypoxic brain damage.

Comparative study of microepineural suture, microepineural suture-aided CO2 laser, and laser only anastomoses in rat sciatic nerves.

The cut sciatic nerves of 33 rats were anastomosed by three different methods under the operation microscope; microepineural suture technique, CO2 laser technique, and laser-aided microepineural suture technique. On histologic examination at the end of 3 months postoperatively, in the CO2 laser and suture-aided CO2 laser groups, the degrees of inflammation, fibrosis, and Schwann cell vacuolar degeneration were significantly higher than in the microepineural suture anastomosis group. At the end of 3 months sciatic nerve function was absent in 3 of 11 rats anastomosed by only CO2 laser, however, sciatic nerve functions were found to be normal in the other two groups.