Does Suppression Levels of Testosterone Have an Impact in The Craniofacial Growth? A Systematic Review in Animal Studies/ A supressão de testosterona impacta o crescimento craniofacial? Uma revisão sistemática de estudos com animais

Sexual hormonal disturbances in humans alter the growth bone. Suppression testosterone is performed in animals for evaluated their effects on craniofacial complex. The aim of this study is to investigate, through of a systematic review from animal studies, the effects of testosterone suppression on the craniofacial complex development. Seven databases, including Open Grey literature, were searched since inception to March 01, 2021, following strategy MEDLINE for terms conducted the search. The study design PICOS was used to establish the eligibility criteria: P - Animals; I - Suppression of testosterone production; C - Animals with normal levels of testosterone; O - Effect in craniofacial growth/development; S - In vivo studies. Relevant data were collected and inserted in characteristics of studies table. Risk of bias was assessed using SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool. Ten studies were included in the systematic review. Two were classified with low risk of bias and eight with unclear. The mandible in experiment group was significantly smaller than control group. The trabecular bone mineral density of the mandible was decrease after testosterone suppression. There was an increase in the number of osteoclasts in the experimental groups. All cephalometric measurements of the maxilla, except in one study, were reduced in orchiectomized rats. The expression of androgen receptor was significantly reduced in head condyle of the experimental group. Testosterone suppression decreases the growth of craniofacial complex bones through imbalance of the bone turnover due to the increase in the number of osteoclasts

Influence of zirconium addition on microstructure, hardness and oxidation resistance of tantalum nitride thin films

Ta1-xZrxN thin films were deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering aiming to investigate the influence of zirconium addition on the microstructure, hardness and high temperature oxidation resistance of the coatings. GAXRD showed that all Ta1-xZrxN thin films maintained ZrN crystalline structure, forming a TaZrN solid solution. Zr incorporation did not alter hardness values of Ta1-xZrxN coatings, however, promoted significant improvements in the oxidation resistance when compared to pure TaN thin films.Keywords: Thin films; Magnetron sputtering; Tantalum nitride; Nanohardness; High temperature oxidation.

The investigation of WNT6 and WNT10A single nucleotide polymorphisms as potential biomarkers for dental pulp calcification in orthodontic patients

The aim of this study is to evaluate if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in WNT6 and WNT10A are associated with the risk of dental pulp calcification in orthodontic patients. This cross-sectional study followed the “Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association Studies” (STREGA) guidelines. Panoramic radiographs (pre- and post-orthodontic treatment) and genomic DNA from 132 orthodontic patients were studied. Dental pulp calcification (pulp stones and/or pulp space narrowing) was recorded in upper and lower first molars. The SNPs in WNT6 and WNT10A (rs7349332, rs3806557, rs10177996, and rs6754599) were assessed through genotyping analysis using DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells. The association between pulp calcification and SNPs were analyzed using allelic and genotypic distributions and haplotype frequencies (p<0.05). Prevalence of dental pulp calcification was 42.4% in the 490 studied molars. In the genotypic analysis, the SNPs in WNT10A showed a statistically significant value for molar calcification (p = 0.027 for rs1017799), upper molar calcification (p = 0.040 for rs1017799) (recessive model), and molar calcification (p = 0.046 for rs3806557) (recessive model). In the allelic distribution, the allele C of the SNP rs10177996 in WNT10A was associated with molar calcifications (p = 0.042) and with upper first molar calcification (p = 0.035). Nine combinations of haplotypes showed statistically significant value (p<0.05). The findings of this study indicates that SNPs in WNT10A and WNT6 are associated with dental pulp calcification in molars after orthodontic treatment and may be considered as biomarkers for dental pulp calcification

WNT genes and dental pulp calcification

The aim of this study is to evaluate if single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in WNT6 and WNT10A are associated with the risk of dental pulp calcification in orthodontic patients. This cross-sectional study followed the “Strengthening the Reporting of Genetic Association Studies” (STREGA) guidelines. Panoramic radiographs (pre- and post-orthodontic treatment) and genomic DNA of 132 orthodontic patients were assessed. Dental pulp calcification prevalence was recorded in upper and lower first molar in cases of pulp stones and pulp space narrowing. The SNPs from WNT6 and WNT10A (rs7349332, rs3806557, rs10177996, and rs6754599) were assessed from genotyping analysis using DNA extracted from buccal epithelial cells. Pulp calcification and the SNPs were analyzed to allelic distribution, Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium, genotyping and haplotype frequencies (p&lt;0.05)