Consumption of bilberries controls gingival inflammation

Bioactive molecules in berries may be helpful in reducing the risk of oral diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of bilberry consumption on the outcome of a routine dental clinical parameter of inflammation, bleeding on probing (BOP), as well as the impact on selected biomarkers of inflammation, such as cytokines, in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in individuals with gingivitis. Study individuals who did not receive standard of care treatment were allocated to either a placebo group or to groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g bilberries daily over seven days. The placebo group consumed an inactive product (starch). A study group, receiving standard of care (debridement only) was also included to provide a reference to standard of care treatment outcome. Cytokine levels were assayed using the Luminex MagPix system. The mean reduction in BOP before and after consumption of test product over 1 week was 41% and 59% in the groups that consumed either 250 or 500 g of bilberries/day respectively, and was 31% in the placebo group, and 58% in the standard of care reference group. The analysis only showed a significantreduction in cytokine levels in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries/day. A statistically significant reduction was observed for IL-1β (p = 0.025), IL-6 (p = 0.012) and VEGF (p = 0.017) in GCF samples in the group that consumed 500 g of bilberries daily. It appears that berry intake has an ameliorating effect on some markers of gingival inflammation reducing gingivitis to a similar extent compared to standard of care

Methodological aspects on microdialysis sampling and measurements

Background:     The microdialysis (MD) technique is widely spread and used both experi­mentally and in clinical practice. The MD technique allows continuous collection of small molecules such as glucose, lactate, pyruvate and glycerol. Samples are often analysed using the CMA 600 analyser, an enzymatic and colorimetric analyser.  Data evaluating the performance of the CMA 600 analysis system and associated sample han­dling are sparse. The aim of this work was to identify sources of variability related to han­dling of microdialysis samples and sources of error associated with use of the CMA 600 analyser. Further, to develop and compare different application techniques of the micro­dialysis probes both within an organ and on the surface of an organ.  Material and Methods:  Papers I and II are mainly in vitro studies with the exception of the No Net Flux calibration method in paper I where a pig model (n=7) was used to exam­ine the true concen­tration of glucose and urea in subcutaneous tissue. Flow rate, sampling time, vial and caps material and performance of the analyser device (CMA 600) were examined. In papers III and IV normoventilated anaesthetised pigs (n=33) were used. In paper III, heart ischemia was used as intervention to compare microdialysis measurements in the myocardium with corresponding measurements on the heart surface. In paper IV, microdialysis measurements in the liver parenchyma were compared with measurements on the liver surface in associa­tion with induced liver ischemia. All animal studies were approved by the Animal Experi­mental Ethics Committee at Umeå University Sweden. Results:  In paper I we succeeded to measure true concentrations of glucose (4.4 mmol/L) and Urea (4.1 mmol/L) in subcutaneous tissue. Paper II showed that for a batch analyse of 24 samples it is preferred to store microdialysis samples in glass vials with crimp caps. For reliable results, samples should be centrifuged before analysis. Paper III showed a new application area for microdialysis sampling from the heart, i.e. surface sampling. The sur­face probe and myocardial probe (in the myocardium) showed a similar pattern for glucose, lactate and glycerol during baseline, short ischemic and long ischemic interventions. In paper IV, a similar pattern was observed as in paper III, i.e. data obtained from the probe on the liver surface showed no differences compared with data from the probe in liver paren­chyma for glucose, lactate and glycerol concentrations during baseline, ischemic and reperfusion interven­tions. Conclusion:  The MD technique is adequate for local metabolic monitoring, but requires methodological considerations before starting a new experimental serie. It is important to consider factors such as flow rate, sampling time and handling of samples in association with the analysis device chosen. The main finding in this thesis is that analyses of glucose, lactate and glycerol in samples from the heart surface and liver surface reflect concentra­tions sampled from the myocardium and liver parenchyma, respectively

Socialt arbete i skolan : En kvalitativ enkätstudie utifrån ungdomars upplevelser och behov

ÖREBRO UNIVERSITY Department of Behavioural, Social and Legal Sciences Programme in social care oriented towards social pedagogy C-essay, Social Work, 41-60 p Autumn term 2005 Social Work in School A qualitative study influenced by youths experiences and needs. Authors: Pernilla Abrahamsson & Sandra Liljemark Tutor: Marianne Freyne-Lindhagen Abstract The aim with this study is to investigate young adult´s experiences and need of social work in school, and a qualitative method was used to take part of their experiences. Groupquestionnaires with open questions was formed and three year one classes in uppersecondary school participated. In the process of making the questions a testquestionnaire was tested with one of the three classes as particpants. Information has also been collected throug an interview over the phone with the school´s welfare officer, and the school´s policy dokuments have been read. Social work in schools is mentioned in the study as preventive measures with youths when it comes to bullying, alcohol, drugs, sex and coexistance and tobacco. The concept youths include individuals born in 1989 and the year they was born was chosen in the study instead of a specific age to include youths who are not yet sixteen and to exclude the ones who are born earlier. The main questions are: What kind of experiences do yoths have of social work in school? What kind of need do youths have of social work in school? The result show the respondents experiences and needs of social work in school throug quotation and the answers. The result is also illustrated throug two diagrams which show the questionnaires frequence of answer. There is a need of social work in the uppersecondary school, and the need of it is not more then what the school today can offer. The respondents had the oppotunity to freely be able to express their opinion of social work in school, but the result shows that the youths who participated do not have the interest to give their opinion in the subject. This emerge throug answers with few words and a high frequence of “don´t know”-answers in many of the questions in the questionnaire. The analysis and discussion in this study opens up for new questions that can be used as further research. Key words: social work in school, youthsÖREBRO UNIVERSITET Institutionen för beteende, social och rättsvetenskap Sociala Omsorgsprogrammet, 140 p Socialt arbete C, 10 p Socialt arbete i skolan En kvalitativ enkätstudie utifrån ungdomars upplevelser och behov. Författare: Pernilla Abrahamsson, Sandra Liljemark Handledare: Marianne Freyne-Lindhagen Sammanfattning Studiens syfte var att undersöka ungdomars upplevelser och behov av socialt arbete i skolan och en kvalitativ ansats valdes för att ta del av deras upplevelser. Tre 1-årsklasser på gymnasiet deltog i undersökningen och som metod användes gruppenkäter med öppna frågor. I det inledande utförandet av enkätfrågorna genomfördes en testenkät med en av de tre klasserna. Empiri har även inhämtats från skolans kurator genom telefonintervju och skolans policydokument. I studien benämns socialt arbete i skolan som preventivt arbete med ungdomar såsom mobbning, alkohol, sex och samlevnad, narkotika och tobak. Socialt arbete i skolan benämns även utifrån skolkuratorns arbetsuppgifter som exempelvis stödsamtal. Begreppet ungdomar innefattar i studien individer födda 1989. Årgång valdes istället för specifik ålder för att få med de ungdomar som ännu inte fyllt 16 år och kunna utesluta de som var födda tidigare. Studiens huvudfrågor är: Vad har ungdomar för upplevelser och erfarenheter av socialt arbete i skolan? Vad har ungdomar för behov av socialt arbete i skolan? Resultatet visar respondenternas upplevelser och behov av socialt arbete genom citat och sammanställning av svar. Resultatet illustreras även genom två diagram som visar enkätundersökningens svarsfrekvens. Det finns ett behov av socialt arbete i den aktuella gymnasieskolan och behovet är inte mer än vad skolan idag kan erbjuda. Respondenterna gavs möjlighet att fritt kunna uttrycka sina åsikter gällande socialt arbete i skolan men resultatet tyder på att de ungdomar som deltog inte har intresse av att ge sin åsikt i ämnet. Detta framkommer genom fåordiga svar och en hög frekvens av ”vet ej” på många av enkätens frågor. Studiens analys och diskussion öppnar för nya frågor som eventuellt kan användas för vidare forskning

Surface Microdialysis Detects Ischemia After Esophageal Resection—An Experimental Animal Study

Background: After an esophageal resection, continuity is commonly restored by a gastric tube reconstruction and an intrathoracic anastomosis to the remaining proximal esophagus. Ischemia of the anastomotic region is considered to play a pivotal role in anastomotic leakage. Microdialysis (μD) is an excellent method to measure local biochemical substances and parameters in a specific organ or compartment aiming at early detection of ischemia. This animal study evaluates ischemia of the gastric tube reconstruction using a novel method—μD on organ surfaces. This promising method may have the potential to detect an anastomotic leakage before clinical symptoms develop. Methods: Anesthetized normoventilated pigs were used. Surface microdialysis (S-μD) catheters and an intraparenchymal oxygen tension catheter were placed on the stomach. A gastric tube was made and the gastroepiploic artery was divided halfway along the greater curvature to produce severe ischemia at the top of the gastric tube. μD data from four locations (gastric tube, ileum and peritoneal cavity) were recorded every 20 min during the experiment. Tissue samples from all catheter sites underwent histopathological analysis. Intraparenchymal oxygen partial pressure, systemic blood tests, and hemodynamic parameters were recorded. Results: S-μD data showed values indicating severe ischemia at the top of the gastric tube and intermediate ischemia at the level of transection of the gastroepiploic artery. Ischemia was verified by histopathological analysis of tissue samples and intraparenchymal oxygen tension data. Conclusions: S-μD can detect and grade severity of local ischemia in real time, in an animal model

Surface microdialysis on small bowel serosa in monitoring of ischemia

Background Ischemic injury of an organ causes metabolic change from aerobic to anaerobic metabolism. It has been shown in experimental studies on the heart and liver that such conversion may be detected by conventional microdialysis probes placed intra-parenchymatously, as well as on organ surfaces, by assaying lactate, pyruvate, glucose, and glycerol in dialysate. We developed a microdialysis probe (S-μD) intended for use solely on organ surfaces. The aim of this study was to assess whether the newly developed S-μD probe could be used for detection and monitoring of small bowel ischemia. Methods In anesthetized normoventilated pigs, a control S-μD probe was applied on the jejunal serosa 50 cm downstream from the duodenojejunal junction (DJJ). Starting 100 cm from DJJ, a 100-cm long ischemic segment was created by division of all mesenteric vessels. S-μDs were applied at 2.5, 5, 20, and 50 cm from the starting point of ischemia by serosal sutures. A standard μD probe was placed in the abdominal cavity as a further control. Dialysate was harvested before inducing ischemia and subsequently every 20 min for 4 h. Central venous blood was drawn every hour to monitor systemic lactate, C-reactive protein, and white blood cell count. Results Microdialysis lactate levels were significantly higher than baseline from 20 min on into protocol time in the ischemic segment and in the control S-μD probe. The peritoneal cavity probe showed no significant elevation. Lactate levels from the ischemic segment reached a plateau at 60 min. Courses of pyruvate, glucose, and glycerol levels were in accordance with transition from an aerobic to anaerobic metabolism in the bowel wall. No statistically significant changes in hemoglobin, white blood cell count, or lactate values in central venous blood were recorded. Conclusions Assaying the aforementioned compounds in dialysate, harvested by the newly developed S-μD probe, allowed detection and monitoring of small bowel ischemia from 20 min on following its onset

Does carbon monoxide treatment alter cytokine levels after endotoxin infusion in pigs? : A randomized controlled study

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Carbon monoxide (CO) has recently been suggested to have anti-inflammatory properties, but data seem to be contradictory and species-specific. Thus, in studies on macrophages and mice, pretreatment with CO attenuated the inflammatory response after endotoxin exposure. On the other hand, human studies showed no effect of CO on the inflammatory response. Anti-inflammatory efficacy of CO has been shown at concentrations above 10% carboxyhaemoglobin. This study was undertaken to elucidate the possible anti-inflammatory effects of CO at lower CO concentrations. METHODS: Effects of CO administration on cytokine (TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-1beta and IL-10) release were investigated in a porcine model in which a systemic inflammatory response syndrome was induced by endotoxin infusion. Endotoxin was infused in 20 anaesthetized and normoventilated pigs. Ten animals were targeted with inhaled CO to maintain 5% COHb, and 10 animals were controls. RESULTS: In the control group, mean pulmonary artery pressure increased from a baseline value of 17 mmHg (mean, n = 10) to 42 mmHg (mean, n = 10) following 1 hour of endotoxin infusion. Similar mean pulmonary artery pressure values were found in animals exposed to carbon monoxide. Plasma levels of all of the measured cytokines increased in response to the endotoxin infusion. The largest increase was observed in TNF-alpha, which peaked after 1.5 hours at 9398 pg/ml in the control group and at 13395 pg/ml in the carbon monoxide-exposed group. A similar peak was found for IL-10 while the IL-6 concentration was maximal after 2.5 hours. IL-1beta concentrations increased continuously during the experiment. There were no significant differences between carbon monoxide-exposed animals and controls in any of the measured cytokines. CONCLUSION: Our conclusion is that 5% COHb does not modify the cytokine response following endotoxin infusion in pigs

Evaluation of intestinal preconditioning in a porcine model using classic ischemic preconditioning or lung recruitment maneuvers.

To test the hypotheses that repeated brief intestinal ischemic insults would elicit an intestinal preconditioning response to a subsequent intestinal I/R injury and that a similar response would be elicited by repeated lung recruitment maneuvers (RMs). Randomized experimental controlled animal study. University hospital animal laboratory. Eighteen anesthetized pigs. Animals were randomized to one of three groups, with six animals in each group. Control group 75-min superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion followed by 60-min reperfusion. Ischemic preconditioning group, three 5-min-long SMA occlusions preceding 75-min SMA occlusion and 60-min reperfusion. Recruitment maneuver (RM) group, three 2-min-long RMs preceding 75-min SMA occlusion and 60-min reperfusion. We measured systemic and mesenteric hemodynamic parameters, jejunal mucosal perfusion, net mesenteric lactate flux, jejunal tissue oxygen tension, and mesenteric oxygenation. Every 15 min, jejunal microdialysate samples were collected and analyzed for glucose, lactate, and glycerol. Jejunal tissue samples were collected postmortem. After occlusion of SMA, regional parameters in all groups indicated abolished perfusion and gradually increasing intraluminal microdialysate lactate and glycerol levels. At reperfusion, regional parameters indicated mesenteric hyperperfusion, whereas microdialysis markers of mucosal anaerobic metabolism and cell injury decreased, although not reaching baseline. Histological examination revealed severe mucosal injury in all groups. There were no significant differences between groups in the observed parameters. No protective preconditioning response could be observed when performing repeated brief intestinal ischemic insults or repeated lung RMs before an intestinal I/R injury