Relationship between periodontitis and psoriasis: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

AIM: Observational research suggests that periodontitis affects psoriasis. However, observational studies are prone to reverse causation and confounding, which hampers drawing causal conclusions and the effect direction. We applied the Mendelian randomization (MR) method to comprehensively assess the potential bi-directional association between periodontitis and psoriasis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We used genetic instruments from the largest available genome-wide association study of European descent for periodontitis (17,353 cases, 28,210 controls) to investigate the relationship with psoriasis (13,229 cases, 21,543 controls), and vice versa. Causal Analysis Using Summary Effect (CAUSE) estimates and inverse variance-weighted (IVW) MR analyses were used for the primary analysis. Robust MR approaches were used for sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Both univariable methods, CAUSE and IVW MR analyses, did not reveal any impact of periodontitis on psoriasis (CAUSE odds ratio [OR] = 1.00, p = 1.00; IVW OR = 1.02, p = .6247), or vice versa (CAUSE OR = 1.01, p = .5135; IVW OR = 1.00, p = .7070). The null association was corroborated by pleiotropy-robust methods with ORs close to 1 and p-values >.59. Overall, MR analyses did not suggest any effect of periodontitis on psoriasis. Similarly, there was no evidence to support an effect of psoriasis on periodontitis. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this MR study, the outcomes supported neither periodontitis affecting psoriasis nor psoriasis affecting periodontitis.

How effective and how expensive are interventions to reduce sedentary behavior? An umbrella review and meta-analysis.

A reduction in sedentary behavior (SB) can contribute to the prevention of chronic diseases. This is the first umbrella review that summarizes the effectiveness and monetary costs of different types of interventions to reduce SB across all age groups and populations in different settings. We comprehensively searched seven databases for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and conducted an umbrella review of the effects of interventions to reduce SB. Additionally, we performed a meta-analysis of primary studies included in the umbrella review. Furthermore, we analyzed health economic aspects of interventions to reduce SB. We included 40 systematic reviews in our umbrella review, with 136 primary studies suitable for further meta-analyses. We found that interventions targeting the physical environment reduce SB most effectively in the majority of populations and settings. Workplace interventions reduced SB by -89.83 min/day (95% CI -124.58 to -55.09; p ≤ 0.0001). Twenty-two of 169 primary studies (13.0%) contained health economic information. The intervention costs per participant ranged from €0 to €3587. Our findings demonstrate that physical environment interventions most effectively reduce SB in a majority of populations and settings. Health economic information was reported in few studies and was mostly restricted to acquisition costs.

Bacterial Retention and Cleanability of Plastic and Wood Cutting Boards with Commercial Food Service Maintenance Practices.

The retention of bacteria on wood and plastic cutting board surfaces and their removal by washing, using protocols consistent with commercial food service, was examined. Plastic and wood boards were subjected to repeated hand and machine washing to simulate wear that would occur during commercial usage. Electron microscopy revealed a more pronounced wearing of the wood surface as compared to the plastic, with cracks on the wood that were sufficiently wide to entrap bacteria. New and previously washed wood and plastic surfaces were inoculated with Escherichia coli and then washed using standard food service washing and sanitizing procedures. The cleanliness of the resulting surfaces was estimated by measuring the residual adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The plastic surfaces were consistently cleaner than wood surfaces by this measure, and wood surfaces that had been hand washed five times prior to inoculation were significantly less clean than any other surfaces or treatments. Bacterial retention after washing on the surface was demonstrated by agar overlay. Even after standard food service washing and sanitizing, colonies of the inoculated bacteria were observed sporadically, but only on wood surfaces and not on plastic. These results suggest that wood surfaces can absorb moisture and in effect can absorb contaminating bacteria, and the difficulty in removing these bacteria may make this material less desirable from a food safety perspective.