Prevalence of Dental Caries on Permanent First Molars of 7-Year Old School-Aged Children: Basis for the use of Pit and Fissure Sealants

Dental caries is the leading cause of oral diseases in young children all throughout the world. It occurs as a result of the dissolution and destruction of the enamel surface by the microorganisms. The purpose of the study is to compare the prevalence of first permanent molar caries among sever year old school-aged children as a basis for the use of pit and fissure sealants. Specifically were to answer the following: 1) What is the number of 7 year old children with fully erupted first permanent molars?; 2) What is the prevalence and degree of existing caries on all the first permanent molars using ICDAS II method of caries assessment, in terms of: a)Sealable non-carious/ ICDAS II code 0, b)Sealable carious/ ICDAS II code 1 & 2, and c)Non-sealable carious/ ICDAS II code 3-6 ; and 3) Is there a gender predilection in the development of dental caries. The descriptive research design was used to utilize the ICDAS II caries index to assess the prevalence of the caries on the permanent molars. A total of 36 respondents were examined in this study. Data was analyzed using frequency, distribution and Chi-square test. Initially, there were 47 participants or the proposed study ages 7 years old, but only 36 (76.60%) of them met the inclusion criteria of having their first permanent molars fully erupted. Results showed that out of 144 teeth of the respondents, there were 121 sealable non-carious, 14 sealable carious, and 9 non-sealable carious teeth. There was no gender predilection. The study showed that there is a high percentage of sealable non-carious permanent molar, which is the appropriate age to strongly implement the application of pit and fissure sealant. This would significantly benefit in preventing and/or inhibiting the occurrence of caries in 1st permanent molars

Endotoxaemia in Haemodialysis: A Novel Factor in Erythropoetin Resistance?

Background/Objectives Translocated endotoxin derived from intestinal bacteria is a driver of systemic inflammation and oxidative stress. Severe endotoxaemia is an underappreciated, but characteristic finding in haemodialysis (HD) patients, and appears to be driven by acute repetitive dialysis induced circulatory stress. Resistance to erythropoietin (EPO) has been identified as a predictor of mortality risk, and associated with inflammation and malnutrition. This study aims to explore the potential link between previously unrecognised endotoxaemia and EPO Resistance Index (ERI) in HD patients. Methodology/Principal Findings 50 established HD patients were studied at a routine dialysis session. Data collection included weight, BMI, ultrafiltration volume, weekly EPO dose, and blood sampling pre and post HD. ERI was calculated as ratio of total weekly EPO dose to body weight (U/kg) to haemoglobin level (g/dL). Mean haemoglobin (Hb) was 11.3±1.3 g/dL with a median EPO dose of 10,000 [IQR 7,500–20,000] u/wk and ERI of 13.7 [IQR 6.9–23.3] ((U/Kg)/(g/dL)). Mean pre-HD serum ET levels were significantly elevated at 0.69±0.30 EU/ml. Natural logarithm (Ln) of ERI correlated to predialysis ET levels (r = 0.324, p = 0.03) with a trend towards association with hsCRP (r = 0.280, p = 0.07). Ln ERI correlated with ultrafiltration volume, a driver of circulatory stress (r = 0.295, p = 0.046), previously identified to be associated with increased intradialytic endotoxin translocation. Both serum ET and ultrafiltration volume corrected for body weight were independently associated with Ln ERI in multivariable analysis. Conclusions This study suggests that endotoxaemia is a significant factor in setting levels of EPO requirement. It raises the possibility that elevated EPO doses may in part merely be identifying patients subjected to significant circulatory stress and suffering the myriad of negative biological consequences arising from sustained systemic exposure to endotoxin

Selective increase of cerebrospinal fluid IL-6 during experimental systemic inflammation in humans: association with depressive symptoms

Systemic inflammation is accompanied by profound behavioral and mood changes that resemble symptoms of depression. Findings in animals suggest that pro-inflammatory cytokines released by activated immune cells in the periphery evoke these behavioral symptoms by driving inflammatory changes in the brain. However, experimental data in humans are lacking. Here we demonstrate in healthy male volunteers (10 endotoxin treated, 8 placebo treated) that intravenous administration of low-dose endotoxin (0.8 ng/kg body weight), a prototypical pathogen-associated molecular pattern that activates the innate immune system, not only induces a significant increase in peripheral blood cytokine concentrations (that is, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10) but also results, with some latency, in a robust and selective increase of IL-6 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Moreover, we found a strong association between the endotoxin-induced increase of IL-6 in the CSF and the severity of mood impairment, with larger increases in CSF IL-6 concentration followed by a greater deterioration in mood. Taken together, these findings suggest that the appearance of depressive symptoms in inflammatory conditions might be primarily linked to an increase in central IL-6 concentration, identifying IL-6 as a potential therapeutic target in mood disorders