[Changes and significance of serum prealbumin expression in patients with oral and maxillofacial space infections].

PURPOSE: To investigate the changes of serum prealbumin (PA) expression level in patients with oral and maxillofacial space infections and its significance. METHODS: Patients hospitalized at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from January 2020 to September 2021 were selected and divided into infected and non-infected group. One hundred and twenty-one patients with moderate to severe oral and maxillofacial gap infections were in the infected group, and 128 patients without infection were in the non-infected group. In the infected group, PA, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and white blood cell count (WBC) levels and related clinical parameters were measured at 1, 3 and 7 d of admission. In the non-infected group, PA, hs-CRP and WBC levels were measured at 1 d of admission. SPSS 23.0 software package was used to statistically analyze the relationship between PA levels and various laboratory and clinical parameters. RESULTS: PA levels in the infected group were significantly lower than those in the non-infected group at 1 d of admission. PA levels in the infected group showed an overall increasing trend at different time points, and PA was negatively correlated with pain intensity and positively correlated with mouth opening(P＜0.05). The diagnostic sensitivity was 90.91% and the specificity was 92.97% for PA≤19.85 mg/dL, which can be used as the best diagnostic threshold. The diagnostic efficacy can be improved when combined with hs-CRP and WBC. Logistic regression analysis showed that low PA level was an independent risk factor for patients requiring intensive care after surgery (P＜0.05). CONCLUSIONS: PA is an effective tool for the early diagnosis and evaluation of the efficacy of oral and maxillofacial interstitial infections, and can be used as a reference indicator to assess prognosis.

[A retrospective study on incisor root resorption in patients treated with bracketless invisible appliance and straight wire appliance].

PURPOSE: To assess root resorptions in patients treated with bracketless invisible appliance and straight wire appliance using cone-beam CT (CBCT). METHODS: Twenty-eight patients treated with bracketless invisible appliance (as experimental group) or straight wire appliance (as control group) were randomly selected. CBCT images were analyzed at 3 time points (pre-operation, 6 month after operation, post-operation). Root resorption was calculated using root length at 3 time points. The difference between the 2 groups was analyzed with SPSS16.0 software package. To those teeth with no root length reduction, the bone defect was evaluated using CBCT. RESULTS: After 6-month of treatment, 47.3% teeth from the experimental group had root resorption, while 68.3% in the control group. There was significant difference between the 2 groups (P<0.05). Root absorption of maxillary central incisors from the 2 groups was more severe than other teeth (55% in the experimental group, and 75% in the control group). After orthodontic treatment, the incidence of root resorption in the control groups increased to be 85.3% and 68.3% in the experimental group (P<0.05). To those teeth with no root resorption, bone defect was more common in the palatal side (18% in the experimental group, 14% in the control group). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with straight wire appliance, patients using bracketless invisible appliance suffer from less root resorption.

Evaluation of antigenic relationship of Guangxi isolates of infectious bronchitis virus / 病毒学报

Monovalent antisera of 3 vaccine strains and 7 representative field isolates were prepared based on the comparison of genetic diversity of the hypervariable region I of S1 gene (HVR I from 3 infectious bronchitis (IB) vaccine strains (H120, Ma5 and 4/91) ,one reference strain M41 and 26 IB field isolates. These 30 strains were classified in 7 different genotypes, respectively. Virus-neutralizing test on tracheal organ cultures (TOC) with chicken embryo were used to evaluate relatedness values of the antigenicity based on the antibody titer, to analyze the antigenic relationships between the isolates and vaccine strains, as well as to determine the serotypes of 26 IB viruses isolated from the field in Guangxi between 1985 and 2008. The results showed 30 strains were classified into 7 distinct serotypes and there were two predominant serotypes within the 26 isolates, serotypes 1 (totally 13 isolates) and serotype 2 (totally 5 isolates), respectively. In addition, there were some differences observed between the results of serotyping and the genotyping (including the S1, N, M and 3'UTR). The results of the study demonstrated that there were different predominant serotypes and multiple serotypes of IBV circulated in Guangxi in recent years, antigenic variation existed between Guangxi field isolates and vaccine strains.

Genetic variation of S1 gene hypervariable region I of infectious bronchitis viruses isolated in different periods in Guangxi / 病毒学报

The S1 gene hypervariable region I (HVR I) of 22 infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) strains isolated in Guangxi during the period of 1985-2007 were sequenced and compared to that of the other IBV reference strains and the pigeon coronavirus isolates. A phylogenetic tree based on nucleotide sequences of HVR I of all the IBV showed that they were classified into 5 distinct Clusters. 16 out of 22 IBV isolates were grouped into Cluster I, and had higher homology with pigeon coronavirus isolates but lower homology with the Massachusetts (Mass) type vaccine strains. There were 4 and 3 amino-acid residues inserted at the sites of 33-34 and 34-35 respectively within HVR I in 15 isolates, except in isolate GX-NN6 there had 4 amino-acid residues inserted at the both sites; isolates GX-YL1 and GX-NN2 had close relationship with Mass type vaccine strains, and they shared Cluster II; isolates GX-G and GX-XD of Cluster III had close relationship with the Japanese strain JP Miyazaki 89 which was isolated at the same period; isolates GX-YL6 and GX-NN7 of Cluster V had close relationship with the European strain 4/91. The results showed that there were high phylogenetic diversity among the IBVs prevailed in the field in Guangxi resulting from the commonly occurred mutation or insertion within the S1 gene HVR I of the viruses, and majority of the isolates had lower homology with the commonly used Mass type vaccine strains. There was much higher homology among viruses isolated in the same period of time, but without distinct difference in geographical origins.