Multiple human herpesvirus-8 infection

In Malawian patients with Kaposi sarcoma (KS) and their relatives, we investigated nucleotide-sequence variation in human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) subgenomic DNA, amplified from oral and blood samples by use of polymerase chain reaction. Twenty-four people had amplifiable HHV-8 DNA in >1 sample; 9 (38%) were seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1, 21 (88%) were anti-HHV-8-seropositive, and 7 (29%) had KS. Sequence variation was sought in 3 loci of the HHV-8 genome: the internal repeat domain of open-reading frame (ORF) 73, the KS330 segment of ORF 26, and variable region 1 of ORF K1. Significant intraperson/intersample and intrasample sequence polymorphisms were observed in 14 people (60%). For 3 patients with KS, intraperson genotypic differences, arising from nucleotide sequence variations in ORFs 26 and K1, were found in blood and oral samples. For 2 other patients with KS and for 9 people without KS, intraperson genotypic and subgenotypic differences, originating predominantly from ORF K1, were found in oral samples; for the 2 patients with KS and for 4 individuals without KS, intrasample carriage of distinct ORF K1 sequences also were discernible. Our findings imply HHV-8 superinfection

Fermi pockets and quantum oscillations of the Hall coefficient in high temperature superconductors

Recent quantum oscillation measurements in high temperature superconductors in high magnetic fields and low temperatures have ushered in a new era. These experiments explore the normal state from which superconductivity arises and provide evidence of a reconstructed Fermi surface consisting of electron and hole pockets in a regime in which such a possibility was previously considered to be remote. More specifically, the Hall coefficient has been found to oscillate according to the Onsager quantization condition, involving only fundamental constants and the areas of the pockets, but with a sign that is negative. Here we explain the observations with the theory that the alleged normal state exhibits a hidden order, the $d$-density wave, which breaks symmetries signifying time reversal, translation by a lattice spacing, and a rotation by an angle $\pi/2$, while the product of any two symmetry operations is preserved. The success of our analysis underscores the importance of spontaneous breaking of symmetries, Fermi surface reconstruction, and conventional quasiparticles. We primarily focus on the version of the order that is commensurate with the underlying crystalline lattice, but also touch upon the consequences if the order were to incommensurate. It is shown that while commensurate order results in two independent oscillation frequencies as a function of the inverse of the applied magnetic field, incommensurate order leads to three independent frequencies. The oscillation amplitudes, however, are determined by the mobilities of the charge carriers comprising the Fermi pockets.Comment: Final version with a correction of a minor typo; 6 pages, 2 figure

Drug-induced burning mouth syndrome: a new etiological diagnosis

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is defined as a burning sensation of the oral mucosa, in the absence of specific oral lesions. The underlying etiology remains unclear. Peripheral alterations may be related to the density or reactive capacity of the oral mucosal membrane receptors - these being largely influenced by BMS-related risk factors such as stress, anxiety, the female gender, climacterium and advanced age. The present study compiles the cases of BMS induced by drugs reported in the literature, and attempts to draw a series of conclusions. A search was conducted in the PubMed® database using the following key words: burning mouth syndrome, drug-induced, antihypertensive and chemically-induced. The search was carried out in April 2007. The literature yielded clinical cases in which oral burning sensation is described after the administration of drugs belonging to different therapeutic groups: antiretrovirals, antiseizure drugs, hormones and particularly antihypertensive medication. Curiously, among the different types of antihypertensive drugs, BMS was only associated with those compounds that act upon the angiotensin-renin system

Observed Risk Factors and the Prevalence of Potential Oral Malignant Lesions among a North Indian Population

INTRODUCTION: The menace of oral cancer has become a public health concern and its prevalence is increasing with every passing day, making it the sixth most common cancer across the globe. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for potential oral malignant disorders in a middle aged north Indian population.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adopting a Cross-sectional study design, this study examined a total of 944 participants in the Delhi-NCR region and males formed a majority of the population (569, 60.3%). Data was collected using a pre-tested and pre-validated questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was applied and the chi-squared test (for qualitative data) and independent samples t-test(for quantitative data) was applied to find out statistical differences (Using SPSS 21.0), if any.RESULTS: It was reported that 201 (21.29%) of the study population suffered from oral malignant lesions, and the most prevalent lesion was OSMF [115, 12.18%] followed by leukoplakia [49, 5.19%]. The prevalence of oral malignant lesions among males was found to be higher(18.97%) as compared to females. A significant difference was found between the oral lesions and tobacco ever and never chewers (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results indicate a need to focus tobacco cessation programmes in the population of Delhi-NCR and reinforce it from time to time to reduce the burden of such Oral Malignant Disorders

Detection of Salivary Interleukin 2 and Interleukin 6 in Patients With Burning Mouth Syndrome

The etiology of BMS remains unknown. Role of various cytokines has been implicated in the development of BMS. The aim of this study was to evaluate levels of salivary IL-2 and IL-6 in patients with BMS, compared with age-matched healthy volunteers (control group). Whole saliva from 30 patients with BMS, age range 55–65, was tested for the presence of IL-6 and IL-2 by enzyme immunoassay. Control group consisted of 30 healthy participants, aged 55–65 years. Saliva IL-2 concentrations in BMS were significantly increased in patients compared to healthy subjects: mean 34.1 ± 9.7 versus 7.3 ± 3.0 pg/mL; P < .001. Patients with BMS had significantly higher concentrations of IL-6 compared to control: mean 30.8 ± 5.6 versus 5.2 ± 2.8 pg/mL; P < .001. In patients with BMS, IL-2 and IL-6 levels in saliva are elevated, correlating with the severity of illness

Evaluation of the factors associated with sublingual varices: a descriptive clinical study

Background: Age is considered as an important factor for the development of sublingual varices (SV). It has been suggested that some other conditions such as gender, systemic diseases, smoking, denture wearing may play a role in aetiology. However, there are a limited number of studies investigating these associations. This study was perform to evaluate association between SV and the conditions which are described as possible risk factors previously.  Materials and methods: A total of 691 patients (470 females, 221 males) who attended for comprehensive clinical examination were included in the study. Age, gender, systemic health, venous varix of the lower extremities, smoking status, denture wearing were recorded during the history taking. SV were classified into two categories: stage 0 (few or none visible) and stage 1 (moderate or severe). Tongue photographs were taken from a group of these patients. For the evalu- ation of intra-observer reliability, 60 photographs of tongue were re-evaluated by the same observer. Intra-observer reliability was evaluated using Kappa statistics. Pearson c2 test and Fisher’s exact test were used to assess SV in relation to each variable, and variables showing associations with p &lt; 0.05 were selected for the multivariable analysis, then logistic regression analysis was applied.  Results: Kappa value of intra-observer reliability was 0.91. SV were significantly associated with age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.08, p = 0.000), hypertension (OR = 2.3, p = 0.007) and denture wearing (OR = 2.17, p = 0.02). Conclusions: The presence of SV is associated with hypertension and denture wearing as well as aging. More detailed studies are needed to prove causative relations between SV and systemic diseases.

Oral mucosal lesions in a Chilean elderly population: a retrospective study with a systematic review from thirteen countries

The oral examination is an essential part of the multidisciplinary medical care in elderly people. Oral mucosal lesions and normal variations of oral anatomy (OMLs) are very common in this people, but few studies have examined the frequency and prevalence of these conditions worldwide and less in Chile. The aim of this research was to evaluate the frequency of OMLs in a Chilean elderly population. It was conducted a retrospective study (Talca, Chile). Two hundred seventy-seven OMLs were classified in groups and anatomical sites. In order to contextualize our numbers, we made a systematic review using Publish or Perish software, Google Scholar and InteractiVenn. The most prevalent OMLs groups were soft tissue tumors, epithelial pathology, facial pain and neuromuscular diseases, and dermatologic diseases. The most frequent OMLs included irritation fibroma (30 patients, 10.8%), hemangioma (20, 7.2%), burning mouth syndrome (20 cases, 7.2%), oral lichen planus (12, 4.3%) and epulis fissuratum (12, 4.3%). In the systematic review, 75 OMLs were relevant and the more studied pathologies were traumatic ulcerations (11 of 15 articles), oral lichen planus (10/15), irritation fibroma, melanotic pigmentations, and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (9/10, respectively). Considering all included articles, most frequent OMLs in elderly people included denture-related stomatitis (13.3%), irritation fibroma (8.7%) and fissured tongue (6.3%). The results reflect the frequency of OMLs diagnosed in a specialized service in south of Chile and many countries around the world. These numbers will allow the establishment of preventive politics and adequacy of the clinical services