Evaluation of the Relationship between Passive Smoking and Oral Pigmentation in Children

Introduction: Melanin pigmentation in the oral mucosa occurs as a result of several reasons one of which is smoking. Cigarette smoke induces numerous side effects in the people who do not smoke, but are in the same environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of parental smoking on pigmentation of their children's oral mucosa.Materials and Methods: This study was carried out as a historical cohort. Participants were 400 healthy children, 10 to 11 years old who did not use any drugs. The passive smoker group included 200 children who at least one member in their family was a smoker. The control group included 200 children who did not have a smoker in their family. Furthermore, two groups were matched in the point of view of skin color. The children in the two groups were examined and oral pigmentation was recorded. Finally,the results were analyzed by the chi- square test.Results: Pigmentation was seen in 150 children (75%) in the experimental group and 122 children (61%) in the control group (P<0.005). The relative risk of oral pigmentation for children who were exposed to passive smoking was 1.23.Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, passive smoking can induce gingival pigmentation in children

Screening of Microorganisms for Biodegradation of Simazine Pollution (Obsolete Pesticide Azotop 50 WP)

The capability of environmental microorganisms to biodegrade simazine—an active substance of 2-chloro-s-triazine herbicides (pesticide waste since 2007)—was assessed. An enormous metabolic potential of microorganisms impels to explore the possibilities of using them as an alternative way for thermal and chemical methods of utilization. First, the biotope rich in microorganisms resistant to simazine was examined. Only the higher dose of simazine (100 mg/l) had an actual influence on quantity of bacteria and environmental fungi incubated on substrate with simazine. Most simazine-resistant bacteria populated activated sludge and biohumus (vermicompost); the biggest strain of resistant fungi was found in floral soil and risosphere soil of maize. Compost and biohumus were the sources of microorganisms which biodegraded simazine, though either of them was the dominant considering the quantity of simazine-resistant microorganisms. In both cases of periodic culture (microorganisms from biohumus and compost), nearly 100% of simazine (50 mg/l) was degraded (within 8 days). After the repeated enrichment culture with simazine, the rate of its degradation highly accelerated, and just after 24 h, the significant decrease of simazine (20% in compost and 80% in biohumus) was noted. Although a dozen attempts of isolating various strains responsible for biodegradation of simazine from compost and biohumus were performed, only the strain identified as Arthrobacter urefaciens (NC) was obtained, and it biodegraded simazine with almost 100% efficiency (within 4 days)

The Effect of Probiotic Yoghurt on the Frequency of Salivary Candida

Background and aim: Oral candidiasis is the most common fungal disease, and it is often considered as a local opportunistic infection. Oral candidiasis is usually treated with local use of antifungal medications. Since probiotic bacteria have the ability to inhibit the growth of pathogens and modulate human immune responses, they could provide new possibilities in antifungal therapy. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of probiotic yoghurt on the frequency of salivary candida. Materials and methods: This randomized double-blind crossover clinical trial involved 34 healthy adults divided to two groups: 17 subjects in case group (probiotic yoghurt) and 17 subjects in control group (regular yoghurt). At the beginning of the experiment and after 3 weeks of intervention (consumption of regular or probiotic yoghurt), saliva samples were collected from both groups and candida colonies were counted. After a two-week wash out period, the groups were interchanged (crossover study design), and the sampling process was repeated. The data were analyzed using Mann-U-Whitney and Chi-square tests. The level of significance was set at p<0/05. Results: Variations of salivary candida equaled 1.8±9.3 cfu/ml in regular yoghurt group and -3.8±7.9 cfu/ml in probiotic yoghurt group (p=0.01). The amount of salivary candida decreased in 47% of the cases in probiotic yoghurt group and in 29.4% of the cases in regular yoghurt group (p=0.07). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that short-term consumption of probiotic yoghurt decreases the frequency of salivary candida colonies after 3 weeks

Comparison of the Prevalence of Geographic Tongue in Asthmatic Patients and Healthy Subjects in Masih Daneshvari Hospital in 2014

Background and aim: Geographic tongue is a recurrent disorder with several associated etiologies. It is believed to be a common occurrence in the patients suffering from recurrent, acute inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of geographic tongue between asthmatic patients and healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 80 asthmatic patients and 80 healthy controls. The asthmatics were selected from among the patients presenting to Masih Daneshvari hospital with a confirmed diagnosis of asthma, while the healthy controls were selected from among patients' companions. The case and control subjects were matched according to age, sex and cigarette smoking status. The presence of geographic tongue was evaluated in the subjects by clinical examination and also by using a questionnaire. The data were entered into SPSS software version 22 and were evaluated using Chi-Square test. Results: The prevalence of geographic tongue was 21.2% (n=17) in the asthmatic patients and 5% (n=4) in the healthy controls. A significant association was found between asthma and occurrence of geographic tongue (P<0.002). The incidence of geographic tongue in the asthmatics was 4.2 times greater than that in the healthy individuals with a relative risk (RR) equal to 4.2 and an attributable risk (AR) of 16%. In both groups, the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the tongue were more commonly affected than the ventral surface. No significant association was found between the involvement of a specific tongue surface and asthma (P=0.748). Conclusion: According to the results, the asthmatic patients showed a significant higher prevalence of geographic tongue compared with the healthy controls

Evaluation of Multiple Choice Questions of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine Courses 1, 2, and 3 in the First Semester of Academic Year 2014-2015

Background and aim: Lack of proper assessment of students' knowledge regarding theoretical contents leads to disappointment and negligence by weak students. This study assessed multiple-choice questions (MCQs) of oral and maxillofacial medicine courses in the first semester of the academic year 2014-2015. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, questions of theoretical oral medicine courses 1, 2, and 3 were assessed according to twelve items in Millman's checklist, including clearness of stem, negative option for stem, specific option, contrastive option, positive words in stem and options, writing structure of stem, duplicated option, the spelling of stem and options, vertically of options, positivity of stem and options, and use of "all of the above" and "none of the above" phrases in options. Difficulty and discrimination coefficients of each question and the rate of compliance with Millman's principles were evaluated using Excel 2007 and SPSS 16. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Regression analysis. Results: The responses of 219 students to 113 MCQs were evaluated. In theoretical course 1 with 40 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.36±0.2, difficulty coefficient was 73.2±15.02, and correlation coefficient was 0.58. In theoretical course 2 with 35 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.2±0.04, difficulty coefficient was 70.91±25.13, and correlation coefficient was 0.47. In theoretical course 3 with 38 MCQs, discrimination coefficient was 0.3±0.19, difficulty coefficient was 68.73±26.89, and correlation coefficient was 0.5. The percentage of compliance with Millman's principles was 81.88%, 83.58%, and 84.42% in courses 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Conclusion: The weakest discrimination coefficient was noted in theoretical oral medicine 2. The high percentage of simple difficulty coefficient in the three theoretical courses indicates the necessity of training faculty members in designing questions

Relationship Between ADPKD and Post-Renal Transplant Diabetes Mellitus

Background: Autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), a common hereditary disease, is characterized by the progressive development and enlargement of multiple cysts in both kidneys, and typically resulting in end stage renal disease (ESRD) by the fifth decade of life. Post-transplant diabetes mellitus (PTDM), a common complication after transplantation with an incidence rate of 2.5-20%, is associated with poor graft and patient survival. In few studies, PTDM has been more frequent in ADPKD transplanted patients. In the present study, we investigated whether there is any association between PTDM and ADPKD in our patients. Methods: In this prospective study, 140 non-diabetic and nonsmoker successfully transplanted patients (27 ADPKD and 113 non ADPKD patients) were enrolled during three years. Both groups were matched for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), duration of renal replacement therapy before transplantation and also immunosuppressive protocols after transplant. Post-transplant diabetes mellitus was defined as Clinical Practice Guidelines advocated by Canadian Diabetes Association. All patients were followed for 12 months. Results: PTDM occurred in 11.1% of ADPKD patients and in 13.1% of control group which was statistically insignificant (P &gt; 0.05). The development of PTDM in ADPKD group was not related to sex, age, and hypertension, duration of renal replacement therapy before transplantation, BMI and serum creatinine levels (P &gt; 0.05). Conclusion: Post-transplant diabetes mellitus appears not to be associated with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease as an etiology of end stage renal disease

Perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infraction

Background and Objective: Cardiovascular diseases are among 46% of deaths in Iran. Changing lifestyle is very important for the disease control. If the patients perceive the benefits of preventive behaviours, the barriers to those behaviours will decline and the probability of engaging in the behaviours will increase. This study carried out to determine perceived benefits and barriers of preventive behaviours of relapsed myocardial infraction. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 100 patients with a history of myocardial infraction referred to Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center during 2007. A questionnaire was used for data collection which measured perceived benefits of, barriers to preventive behaviours of myocardial infraction relapse and status of those behaviours. Data was analyzed using SPSS-13 and Pearson coefficient and regression tests. Results: Subjects earned a mean score of 30.24 (out of 36) in perceived benefits and 22.07 (out of 68) in perceived barriers and 24.48 (out of 37) in preventive behaviours. Preventive behaviours was positively correlated with net benefit and negatively with perceived barriers. Conclusion: This study showed that in spit of suitable level of perceived benefits of myocardial infraction, but still the perceived barriers are significant enough and therefor removal of barriers to such behaviour are essential