Early detection of oral bacteria causing gum infections and dental caries in children

Background and Objectives: Periodontal diseases are resulted from gum infections and dental plaques, which are mainly caused by the bacterial agents. Since dental monitoring includes important prognostic roles, the aim of this study was to detect the most common periodontal pathogenic bacteria in children. Materials and Methods: A total of 200 clinical samples were collected from dental plaques and gingival grooves. Target-specific primers were designed for hbpA in Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, fimA in Porphyromonas gingivalis and 16S rRNA in Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola. Then, a multiplex polymerase chain reaction method was optimized for the highlighted bacterial agents. Results: In general, the highest and the lowest bacterial prevalence rates belonged to Tannerella forsythia (88%) and Porphyromonas gingivalis (13%), respectively. Furthermore, prevalence rates of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia and Treponema denticola were 25, 21 and 45% in samples, respectively. Conclusion: There were significant associations between dental/oral health and microbial community. Metabolism of the oral bacteria, including biofilm formation, can affect gums and develop dental plaques and hence dental caries, especially in children. Early diagnosis of dental caries in children via rapid, accurate molecular methods can increase the diagnostic capacity in clinical cases and therefore prevent periodontal infections in adulthood

The genes expression status of inflammatory determinants following the oral administration of Mannuronic acid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive multifactorial inflammatory disorder. According to numerous evidence, pro-inflammatory markers such as TNF-a, IL-6, IL-22, MYD88 and TLR2 play a substantial role in the pathogenesis and persistence of this disease. B-D-Mannuronic acid (M2000) is a new immunosuppressive drug whose therapeutic effects have been approved in several clinical trials and the results of the phase III clinical trial of this drug in RA patients were potent and efficient. Therefore, the present investigation was designed to evaluate its anti-inflammatory effects on the expression of mentioned factors in RA patients. Material and methods: This research was carried out on 12 healthy individuals and 12 patients with RA and M2000 was administered to the patients orally at a dose of 500 mg twice daily for 12 weeks. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected from the patients before and after treatment with M2000 to investigate the gene expression levels of TNF-a, IL-6, IL-22, MYD88 and TLR2 molecules in them using Real-time PCR. Results: This study data represented a higher gene expression in all target molecules in the RA patients in comparison to the healthy individuals. Furthermore, the outcomes showed that after 12 weeks of therapy with M2000, the gene expression levels of inflammatory factors TNF-a, IL-6, IL-22, MYD88 and TLR2 decreased significantly in treated patients compared to before therapy. The gene expression results were following the clinical and paraclinical assessments. Conclusion: In conclusion, M2000 as a newly approved anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drug, can be proposed as a therapeutic agent in RA patients

Genetic and phenotypic characterization of klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from Matang mangrove estuary Malaysia / Anis Barati

The genus Klebsiella is ubiquitous in nature. The environmental sources of this bacterium include soil, surface waters, plants, sewage, industrial effluents and mammalian gastrointestinal tract. K. pneumoniae is an opportunistic Gram-negative bacterium and is an emergent multidrug resistant strain with potential virulence to human. In this study, phenotypic and genotypic methods were used to screen for potentially pathogenic K. pneumoniae isolated from Matang mangrove estuary. Out of 162 Enterobacteriaceae isolates collected from Matang mangrove estuaries, E. coli (n=47), Enterobacter spp. (n=42), Klebsiella spp. (n=36), Serratia spp. (n=18) and others (n=19) were identified by biochemical assay. Subsequently, out of the 78 presumptive isolates of Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp., 55 were confirmed as K. pneumoniae by PCR targeting the malate dehydrogenase gene. The confirmed isolates of K. pneumoniae were analyzed for antibiotics susceptibility, capsule production, biofilm formation, exopolysaccharide production and morphotype on Congo red agar plate. Also, the isolates were subjected for virulotyping and genetic fingerprinting with Repetitive Element Palindromic PCR (REP-PCR). Out of the 8 virulence genes, K1, K2 (capsular antigen), wabG, magA (biosynthesis of outer core lipopolysaccharide antigen), rmpA (mucoid phenotype regulator), kfu (iron up-taking system), fimH (fimberia adhesion) and ugE (biosynthesis of capsule and smooth lipopolysaccharide) tested, only fimH, ugE and wabG were detected with high prevalence (95%) among K. pneumoniae isolates. In general, the isolates could be grouped into four major clusters based on the REP-PCR fingerprints, in which isolates with certain similar phenotypes were grouped together. Antibiotics susceptibility test showed that majority of K. pneumoniae isolates (87.3%) were sensitive to the all the antibiotics tested, except for Ampicillin. However, 12.7% of the isolates were found to be multi drug resistant to more than 2 classes of antibiotics. These multi drug resistant isolates were mainly isolated from one station located at river mouth with high salinity (18.03ppt). The waterborne K. pneumoniae from Matang mangrove estuary demonstrated low prevalence (5%) of strong biofilm forming ability. In conclusion, due to presence of some virulence factors like, hypermucoid phenotype, biofilm formation ability, and capsular production and the presence of virulence gene (fimH, wabG, ugE) in these waterborne K. pneumoniae, these localities pose a risk of infection to the villagers