Lateral Cephalometric Study in Adult Bulgarians with Normal Occlusion.

Orthodontic treatment is effective when the facial and cephalometric characteristics of the ethnic background of patients are considered because the normal measurements for one group are not necessarily normal for another group. It is important to develop individual standards for each population. Different racial groups must be treated according to their own characteristics. The aim of this study was to establish a cephalometric standard of the cranial bases and jaw bases for Bulgarian population and to find the differences between males and females. The pilot study included 390 adult Bulgarians. Of these, 90 cases with intact dentitions, harmonious faces and Angle Class I occlusion who have not received orthodontic treatment, were purposefully selected. Lateral cephalometric radiographs of the selected subjects were taken. Six linear/angular measurements combining sagittal parameters selected form Steiner (ANB angular indicator), Schwarz (S-N, Ba-N, A1-PNS, Go- APMan linear indicators) and Jacobson (WITS-linear indicator) analysis were recorded. Student's t-test with 5% significance level was used for data analysis (means, standard deviations, maximum and minimum values) and to assess gender differences. A gender-based cephalometric analysis of indicators found that there are statistically significant differences. Only the ANB angular parameter did not show any statistically significant difference between genders. The cephalometric variables measured in this study were significantly different between the genders except for angle ANB, and they were higher in boys. The results of our study confirm previous research on the topic presented in specialized literature.

Assessment of the effectiveness of two different orthodontic retention protocols.

INTRODUCTION: The main goal of orthodontic retention is to keep the teeth in their corrected positions. Fixed or removable retainers are the most common types of retainers used during the retention phase. For the maxilla, various types of retainers have been described, including the vacuum-formed retainers and Hawley retainers. Fixed retainers are used for the lower jaw.

Selective depletion of alloreactive T lymphocytes using patient-derived nonhematopoietic stimulator cells in allograft engineering.

BACKGROUND: Selective depletion of alloreactive T cells in vitro results in efficient graft-versus-host disease prophylaxis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation, but it is accompanied by increased recurrence of leukemia. To spare donor T-cell-mediated graft-versus-leukemia immunity against hematopoiesis-restricted minor histocompatibility (minor-H) antigens, we explored the use of patient-derived nonhematopoietic antigen-presenting cells (APC) as allogeneic stimulators for selective allodepletion in leukemia-reactive donor T-cell lines. METHODS: Primary keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, and bone marrow fibroblasts were generated from skin biopsies and diagnostic bone marrow aspirates of acute myeloid leukemia patients in vitro. Cell cultures were analyzed for expansion, phenotype, and immunostimulatory capacity in comparison with CD40-activated B cells as professional APC. In addition, nonhematopoietic APCs were used for selective allodepletion in vitro. RESULTS: Patient-derived fibroblasts could be reliably expanded to large cell numbers, whereas keratinocytes had limited growth potential. Interferon-gamma-pretreated fibroblasts showed increased expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-class I and II molecules, CD40, and CD54. Fibroblasts and CD40-activated B cells comparably stimulated HLA-A*0301-specific CD8 T cells after transient expression of HLA-A*0301 as a model alloantigen. Finally, fibroblasts could be effectively applied to selectively deplete alloreactivity within leukemia-reactive donor CD8 T-cell lines by targeting the activation-induced antigen CD137. CONCLUSIONS: Primary fibroblasts can be efficiently used as allogeneic nonhematopoietic APC for selective depletion of donor T cells reactive to HLA and ubiquitously expressed minor-H antigen disparities in leukemia-stimulated CD8 T-cell lines. Therefore, harnessing alloreactivity to hematopoietic minor-H antigens in addition to leukemia-associated antigens might increase graft-versus-leukemia immunity of donor lymphocyte grafts in allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

Targeting the activation-induced antigen CD137 can selectively deplete alloreactive T cells from antileukemic and antitumor donor T-cell lines.

In HLA-incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, alloreactive donor T cells recognizing recipient mismatch HLA cause severe graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Strategies allowing the selective depletion of alloreactive T cells as well as the enhancement of graft-versus-malignancy immunity would be beneficial. We generated donor CD8 T-cell lines in vitro using allogeneic recipient cells mismatched at a single HLA class I allele or haplotype as stimulators. Recipient cells were obtained from acute myeloid leukemias, renal-cell carcinomas, and CD40L-induced B lymphoblasts. Resulting alloreactive T cells were activated by incubating day 21 T-cell cultures with HLA-mismatch transfected K562 cells or recipient-derived fibroblasts. Selective allodepletion (SAD) was subsequently performed by a newly developed immunomagnetic depletion approach targeting the tumor necrosis factor receptor molecule CD137 (4-1BB). Compared with other activation-induced antigens, CD137 showed a superior performance based on a consistently low baseline expression and a rapid up-regulation following alloantigen stimulation. In 15 different SAD experiments, the frequency of alloreactive CD8 T cells was reduced to a median of 9.5% compared with undepleted control populations. The allodepleted T-cell subsets maintained significant antitumor and antiviral CD8 responses. In vitro expansion of tumor-reactive T cells followed by CD137-mediated SAD might enhance the antitumor efficacy of T-cell allografts with lower risk of inducing GVHD.