Orofacial findings in chronic granulomatous disease: report of twelve patients and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Chronic granulomatous disease is an extremely rare primary immunodeficiency syndrome that can be associated with various oral complications. This can affect high number of patients. However, data on oral complications is sparse. Here we will review the literature and describe the orofacial findings in 12 patients. FINDINGS: The age range was 5-31 years. Oral findings were variable, and reflected a low level of oral hygiene. They included periodontitis, rampant caries, gingivitis, aphthous-like ulcers, and geographic tongue. One patient had white patches on the buccal mucosa similar to lichen planus. Another patient had a nodular dorsum of the tongue associated with fissured and geographic tongue. Biopsies from the latter two lesions revealed chronic non-specific mucositis. Panoramic radiographs showed extensive periodontitis in one patient and periapical lesions in another patient. CONCLUSION: Patients with chronic granulomatous disease may develop oral lesions reflecting susceptibility to infections and inflammation. It is also possible that social and genetic factors may influence the development of this complication. Therefore, oral hygiene must be kept at an optimum level to prevent infections that can be difficult to manage.

Chemopreventive effect of raw and cooked lentils (Lens culinaris L) and soybeans (Glycine max) against azoxymethane-induced aberrant crypt foci.

Although lentils (Lens culinaris L) contain several bioactive compounds that have been linked to the prevention of cancer, the in vivo chemopreventive ability of lentils against chemically induced colorectal cancer has not been examined. Our present study examined the hypothesis that lentils could suppress the early carcinogenesis in vivo by virtue of their bioactive micro- and macroconstituents and that culinary thermal treatment could affect their chemopreventive potential. To accomplish this goal, we used raw whole lentils (RWL), raw split lentils (RSL), cooked whole lentils (CWL), and cooked split lentils (CSL). Raw soybeans (RSB; Glycine max) were used for the purpose of comparison with a well-studied chemopreventive agent. Sixty weanling Fischer 344 male rats, 4 to 5 weeks of age, were randomly assigned to 6 groups (10 rats/group): the control group (C) received AIN-93G diet, and treatment leguminous groups of RWL, CWL, RSL, CSL, and RSB received the treatment diets containing AIN-93G+5% of the above-mentioned legumes. After acclimatization for 1 week (at 5th to 6th week of age), all animals were put on the control and treatment diets separately for 5 weeks (from 6th to 11th week of age). At the end of the 5th week of feeding (end of 11th week of age), all rats received 2 subcutaneous injections of azoxymethane carcinogen at 15 mg/kg rat body weight per dose once a week for 2 consecutive weeks. After 17 weeks of the last azoxymethane injection (from 12th to 29th week of age), all rats were euthanized. Chemopreventive ability was assessed using colonic aberrant crypt foci and activity of hepatic glutathione-S-transferases. Significant reductions (P < .05) were found in total aberrant crypt foci number (mean +/- SEM) for RSB (27.33 +/- 4.32), CWL (33.44 +/- 4.56), and RSL (37.00 +/- 6.02) in comparison with the C group (58.33 +/- 8.46). Hepatic glutathione-S-transferases activities increased significantly (P < .05) in rats fed all treatment diets (from 51.38 +/- 3.66 to 67.94 +/- 2.01 micromol mg(-1) min(-1)) when compared with control (C) diet (26.13 +/- 1.01 micromol mg(-1) min(-1)). Our findings indicate that consumption of lentils might be protective against colon carcinogenesis and that hydrothermal treatment resulted in an improvement in the chemopreventive potential for the whole lentils.

Antifertility effect of ethanolic extract of Juniperus phoenica (L.) in male albino rats.

The plant Juniperus phoenica (L.) (Cupressaceae) is widely growing on the rocky soils of the Mediterranean regions. In Jordan, the plant is distributed in different locations and is used as a folk medicine to treat rheumatism, edema, and urinary tract diseases. This study aimed to investigate the antifertility effect of J. phoenica in male albino rats. Animals were administered single daily intraperitoneal injections of 400 or 800 mg/kg of J. phoenica cones ethanol extract or the vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide) for 21 consecutive days. A marked dose-dependent decrease in the counts and motility of the sperms collected from the cauda epididymis of treated rats was observed compared with the control. Furthermore, pregnancy rate in females markedly reduced by 60% and 80% after mating with males treated with 400 or 800 mg/kg, respectively. At the same time, significant decreases were detected in seminal vesicles and testicular weight of rats that received 800 mg/kg as compared with control rats. Testosterone levels were decreased significantly in both treated groups as compared with control. Histologically, seminiferous tubules of treated rats showed marked arrests of spermatogenesis and a marked decrease in the number of mature sperms. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that the ethanolic extract of the cones of J. phoenica possesses potential antifertility effects.

New trends in the clinicopathological features of differentiated thyroid cancer in Central Jordan.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the current trends in presentation and distribution of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) at the largest referral hospital for endocrine cancers in Central Jordan. METHODS: We analyzed the clinical features, management and outcome of 110 patients diagnosed with thyroid carcinoma at Jordan University Hospital, Amman, between 1996 and 2001. RESULTS: Papillary carcinoma was diagnosed in 87 patients (80%), follicular carcinoma in 3 patients (2.7%), Hurthle cell carcinoma in 8 patients (7.3%), medullary carcinoma in 5 (4.5%), and anaplastic carcinoma in 4 patients (3.6%), metastatic cancer in 2 patients and lymphoma in one patient. Time course analysis showed an increasing trend in surgery for thyroid cancer from 28 cases in 1986-1991 to 48 in 1996-2001. As time advanced, the incidence of locally invasive disease and lymph node involvement markedly increased over the last 5 years of the study (from 28-62%). All patients with follicular carcinoma were diagnosed in the period 1986-1994. After thyroidectomy and a follow up period of 2-15 years, 10 patients died of their disease, 4 of these died within one year from anaplastic thyroid carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The dramatic decline in the incidence of follicular thyroid carcinoma combined with the increase in the advanced forms of thyroid cancer in Central Jordan may suggest a possible environmental factor in thyroid carcinogenesis in this region. We suggest a larger scale studies and steps to investigate the etiologic factors for thyroid carcinogenesis in Central Jordan.