Detection of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola in chronic and aggressive periodontitis patients: A comparative polymerase chain reaction study

The detection frequency of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola in chronic periodontitis (CP) and aggressive periodontitis (AgP) is not explored well in Indian population. Aim: The study was undertaken to detect P. gingivalis and T. denticola in CP as well as in AgP patients using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and to determine the relationship between the frequency of these two microorganisms and the severity of clinical periodontal parameters. Materials and Methods: Subgingival plaque samples were collected from ninety participants (thirty CP patients, thirty AgP patients, and thirty healthy participants) and the aforementioned two microorganisms were detected using PCR. Results: However, when CP and AgP were compared for the detection frequency of two microorganisms, no statistically significant difference was noted. A statistically significant increase in the number of bacteria‑positive sites increased as the score of plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and clinical attachment level of CP and AgP patients increased. Coexistence of P. gingivalis and T. denticola was frequently observed in deep periodontal pockets. Conclusions: Study findings suggest that P. gingivalis and T. denticola are significantly associated with the severity of periodontal tissue destruction. Statistically significant association exists between clinical periodontal parameters such as PI, GI, periodontal pocket depth (PPD), and clinical attachment loss and presence of both the microorganism

Evaluation of chemiluminescence, toluidine blue and histopathology for detection of high risk oral precancerous lesions: A cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early detection holds the key to an effective control of cancers in general and of oral cancers in particular. However, screening procedures for oral cancer are not straightforward due to procedural requirements as well as feasibility issues, especially in resource-limited countries.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a cross-sectional study to compare the performance of chemiluminescence, toluidine blue and histopathology for detection of high-risk precancerous oral lesions. We evaluated 99 lesions from 55 patients who underwent chemiluminescence and toluidine blue tests along with biopsy and histopathological examination. We studied inter-as well as intra-rater agreement in the histopathological evaluation and then using latent class modeling, we estimated the operating characteristics of these tests in the absence of a reference standard test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was a weak inter-rater agreement (kappa < 0.15) as well as a weak intra-rater reproducibility (Pearson's r = 0.28, intra-class correlation rho = 0.03) in the histopathological evaluation of potentially high-risk precancerous lesions. When compared to histopathology, chemiluminescence and toluidine blue retention had a sensitivity of 1.00 and 0.59, respectively and a specificity of 0.01 and 0.79, respectively. However, latent class analysis indicated a low sensitivity (0.37) and high specificity (0.90) of histopathological evaluation. Toluidine blue had a near perfect high sensitivity and specificity for detection of high-risk lesions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In our study, there was variability in the histopathological evaluation of oral precancerous lesions. Our results indicate that toluidine blue retention test may be better suited than chemiluminescence to detect high-risk oral precancerous lesions in a high-prevalence and low-resource setting like India.</p

Hand-Schüller-Christian disease

Langerhan cell histiocytosis, formerly known as histiocytosis X, traditionally denotes a group of diseases that stem from proliferative reticuloendothelial disturbances.The etiology and pathogenesis of the disease remain debatable. In this paper we report a case of Langerhan cell histiocytosis in a 3 1 / 2 -year-old child who reported to the department of oral pathology with gingival enlargements. The radiological features and histopathological features are also discussed

Tracking of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in subgingival plaque of aggressive periodontitis patients

Background: Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is thought to be one of the etiological agents in aggressive periodontitis as well as indicated in various systemic diseases. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the subgingival plaque of aggressive periodontitis patients. Study Design: Initially, under the selective growth conditions, the isolates were picked from the plaques and their identification was confirmed by polymerase chain reaction using primers specific for A. actinomycetemcomitans subgingival plaque of 15 patients diagnosed clinically and on radiographic criteria as aggressive periodontitis was inoculated on the Tryptic Soy agar with Bacitracin and Vancomycin culture media for 3-5 days under microaerophilic conditions. The positive colonies were selected based on biochemical tests for further analysis using reported primers for A. actinomycetemcomitans. Results: The results showed that 66.67% of aggressive periodontitis patients and 6.67% of control group of normal patients showed evidence of presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the subgingival microflora. Conclusion: This is the first study of its kind in an Indian population whereby almost all aggressive periodontitis patients showed evidence of A. actinomycetemcomitans

Oral leukoplakia: Transmission electron microscopic correlation with clinical types and light microscopy

Background: Leukoplakia, is a precancerous lesion that is most commonly encountered in the oral cavity. The grade of dysplasia is presumed to be the most important indicator of malignant potential. There are many promising aspects in advanced methods for the evaluation of oral precancer and cancer. Among these methods, electron microscopic examination predicts the true biologic potential more accurately than conventional histology and has some success in the early detection of potentially malignant lesions. It has been reported in the literature that there is some correlation between clinical, histopathological, and transmission electron microscopic features. Materials and Methods: In this cohort study (prospective research), from the total of 9 subjects, 3 had homogenous leukoplakia, 3 had ulcerative type of oral leukoplakia, and 3 had nodular type of oral leukoplakia. Two patients were selected as control patients. Transmission electron microscopic examination was carried for all the cases and controls. All the findings were correlated with clinical features and light microscopy. Results: Clinically and histologically, mild leukoplakia showed break in basement membrane, which can only be observed under transmission electron microscope (TEM). Additional dysplastic features were observed under transmission electron microscope, which are indicative of neoplastic process. Conclusions: Thus, it is finally concluded that nodular leukoplakia seems to be the most severe clinical type of leukoplakia showing highest risk of malignant transformation. Homogenous leukoplakia might show break in basement membrane under TEM

Apoptosis: Molecular mechanism

Cell death is one of the essential processes. Balance between cell division and cell death is of utmost importance for the development and maintenance of multi-cellular organism. Disorders of either process have pathologic consequences and can lead to disturbed embryogenesis, neurodegerative diseases, or the development of cancers. This article reviews the apoptotic as well as anti-apoptotic molecules along with molecular pathways, which may alter in many diseases