Tooth Loss Is Associated With Increased Risk of Dementia and With a Dose-Response Relationship

Objective: Both tooth loss and dementia are age-related and frequently-occurring diseases. Increasing attention has been given to explore the pathogenesis related to oral-brain function disorders. The present study was performed to evaluate the association between tooth loss and dementia through a dose-response meta-analysis.Methods: Relevant cohort studies were searched from online databases up until June 20, 2018, which examined the association between tooth loss and the risk of dementia. Literature selection according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as data extraction from included studies were completed independently by two reviewers. Data syntheses in this meta-analysis were performed using Stata 12.0 software.Results: A total of 8 cohort studies were included, containing a total of 14,362 samples and 2,072 dementia patients. The result of the meta-analysis indicated that patients with tooth loss faced a 1.34 times greater risk of developing dementia (RR = 1.34,95% CI = 1.19-1.51). The result from this dose-response meta-analysis in a linear model, suggested that every missed tooth might increase the risk of dementia by 1.01 times (RR = 1.01, 95%CI = 1.00-1.02). Further subgroup analyses pointed out that tooth loss patients without dentures may have a higher risk of dementia than those with dentures (with denture: RR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.87-1.10; without denture: RR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.19-1.97); at the same time, the study design, study area and education level of the study participants, might also have some effect on the results.Conclusions: Tooth loss may be a risk factor for the development of dementia. In addition, there is a dose-response relationship with the increase of missing teeth

Periodontal Disease and Risk of Bladder Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 298476 Participants

Objective: It has been reported that the periodontal disease is linked to a number of malignant tumors such as lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. In this study, we aimed to investigate the association of periodontal disease with risk of bladder cancer by a meta-analysis.Methods: PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for eligible publications up to December 15, 2017. Cohort and nested case-control studies on the association between periodontal disease and risk of bladder cancer were included. After study selection and data extraction, pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) were calculated using a fixed-effect inverse-variance model. All analyses were performed using the RevMan 5.3 software.Results: Finally, five cohort studies were identified and included in this meta-analysis, involving 1,104 bladder cancer cases of 298,476 participants. Summary estimates based on adjusted data showed that periodontal disease was not significantly associated with the risk of bladder cancer (HR = 1.09, 95% CI = 0.95–1.25, I2 = 0%). A similar result was also observed after cumulative, subgroup and sensitivity analyses.Conclusions: Current evidence from cohort studies suggests that patients with periodontal disease may not be at an increased risk of developing bladder cancer

Periodontal Disease and Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis of 1,73,162 Participants

Objective: To investigate the correlation between periodontal disease and breast cancer.Materials and Methods: PubMed and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases were searched up to February 8, 2018 for observational studies examining the association between periodontal disease and breast cancer. Study selection was conducted according to predesigned eligibility criteria, and two authors independently extracted data from included studies. Meta-analysis was performed using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis v2 software and risk estimates were calculated as relative risks (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: A total of 11 study were included. Meta-analysis indicated that periodontal disease significantly increased the risk of breast cancer by 1.22-fold (RR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.06–1.40). Amongst participants with periodontal patients and a history of periodontal therapy, the risk of developing breast cancer was not significant (RR = 1.23; 95% CI = 0.95–1.60). The association results between periodontal diseases and breast cancer were found to be robust, as evident in the leave-one-out sensitivity analysis.Conclusions: Periodontal disease may be a potential risk factor for the development of breast cancer among women, and thus effective periodontal therapy may present as a valuable preventive measure against breast cancer

Coexistence of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and surgically identified pituitary apoplexy: a case report and review of the literature

INTRODUCTION: A ruptured aneurysm associated with a pituitary apoplexy is rare. We present the first case report of the coexistence of a ruptured posterior communicating aneurysm with a surgically discovered pituitary apoplexy where the pituitary apoplexy had not been diagnosed by a pre-operative computerized tomography scan. CASE PRESENTATION: A 31-year-old right-handed Chinese woman began to experience severe headache, vomiting and blurred vision which continued for two days. On admission to the hospital, a brain computerized tomography scan demonstrated a small amount of increased signal in the basal cisterns; no evidence of intrasellar and suprasellar lesions was seen. The appearance of her brain suggested aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. She had nuchal rigidity and reduced vision. There was no extra-ocular palsy and no other neurological deficit. Our patient had no stigmata of Cushing’s syndrome or acromegaly. During an interview for further history, she reported normal menses and denied reduced vision. Cerebral digital subtraction angiography was subsequently performed, which revealed a 6mm left posterior communicating aneurysm. Urgent left pterional craniotomy was performed. The left ruptured posterior communicating artery aneurysm was completely dissected prior to clipping. At surgery, a suprasellar mass was discovered, the tumor bulging the diaphragma sella and projecting anteriorly under the chiasm raising suspicion of a pituitary tumor. The anterior part of the tumor capsule was opened and a necrotic tumor mixed with dark old blood was removed. The appearance suggested pituitary apoplexy. Histopathology revealed pituitary adenoma with evidence of hemorrhagic necrosis. Our patient made a good recovery. CONCLUSION: Our case report proves that pituitary apoplexy can be coexistent with the rupture of a posterior communicating aneurysm. This association should be considered when evaluating any case of aneurysm. A normal computerized tomography scan does not exclude pituitary apoplexy. Pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging interpretation is required if a pituitary apoplexy is suspected. Craniotomy allows a coexisting aneurysm and pituitary apoplexy to be simultaneously treated

4-[3-(4-Nitro­phen­oxy)prop­oxy]aniline

The mol­ecules of the title compound, C15H16N2O4, are linked via N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming undulating one-dimensional chains. Adjacent chains are linked by weak C—H⋯π inter­actions, forming a three-dimensional network

Puerarin Relieves Paclitaxel-Induced Neuropathic Pain: The Role of Nav1.8 β1 Subunit of Sensory Neurons

Currently there is no effective treatment available for clinical patients suffering from neuropathic pain induced by chemotherapy paclitaxel. Puerarin is a major isoflavonoid extracted from the Chinese medical herb kudzu root, which has been used for treatment of cardiovascular disorders and brain injury. Here, we found that puerarin dose-dependently alleviated paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain. At the same time, puerarin preferentially reduced the excitability and blocked the voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons from paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain rats. Furthermore, puerarin was a more potent blocker of tetrodotoxin-resistant (TTX-R) Nav channels than of tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TTX-S) Nav channels in chronic pain rats’ DRG neurons. In addition, puerarin had a stronger blocking effect on Nav1.8 channels in DRG neurons of neuropathic pain rats and β1 subunit siRNA can abolish this selective blocking effect on Nav1.8. Together, these results suggested that puerarin may preferentially block β1 subunit of Nav1.8 in sensory neurons contributed to its anti-paclitaxel induced neuropathic pain effect

DEFB1 rs11362 Polymorphism and Risk of Chronic Periodontitis: A Meta-Analysis of Unadjusted and Adjusted Data

Objective: Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a growing problem that affects the worldwide population, having significant impacts on people's daily lives and economic development. Genetics is an important component in the determination of individual susceptibility to periodontal diseases. Numerous studies have been performed to investigate the association between beta defensin 1 (DEFB1) rs11362 polymorphism and risk of CP, but the results are still inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis to ascertain whether this variation in DEFB1 is associated with CP susceptibility.Methods: The relevant studies were searched in PubMed and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) databases up to January 9, 2018. Two independent authors selected citations and extracted the data from eligible studies. Odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were used to assess the strength of the association.Results: Seven case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. Based on unadjusted data, there was no obvious association between DEFB1 rs11362 polymorphism and CP risk in all genetic models (A vs. G: OR = 0.86, 95%CI = 0.61–1.20; AA vs. GG: OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 00.50–1.39; AG vs. GG: OR = 1.01, 95%CI = 0.73–1.39; AG+AA vs. GG: OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 00.74–1.11; and AA vs. AG+GG: OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 00.57–1.21); the results of adjusted data also showed no significant relationship. Subgroup analyses based on ethnicity, participants' smoking status, HWE in controls and severity of CP all revealed similar results to that of the overall analysis. Sensitivity analysis indicated the results were robust and no evidence of publication bias was found.Conclusions: Our meta-analysis suggests that DEFB1 rs11362 polymorphism may not have an important effect on the risk of CP. Further large-scale and well-designed studies are necessary to validate our conclusion in the future

Kosterlitz-Thouless melting of magnetic order in the triangular quantum Ising material TmMgGaO4

Frustrated magnets hold the promise of material realizations of exotic phases of quantum matter, but direct comparisons of unbiased model calculations with experimental measurements remain very challenging. Here we design and implement a protocol of employing many-body computation methodologies for accurate model calculations-of both equilibrium and dynamical properties-for a frustrated rare-earth magnet TmMgGaO4 (TMGO), which explains the corresponding experimental findings. Our results confirm TMGO is an ideal realization of triangular-lattice Ising model with an intrinsic transverse field. The magnetic order of TMGO is predicted to melt through two successive Kosterlitz-Thouless (KT) phase transitions, with a floating KT phase in between. The dynamical spectra calculated suggest remnant images of a vanishing magnetic stripe order that represent vortex-antivortex pairs, resembling rotons in a superfluid helium film. TMGO therefore constitutes a rare quantum magnet for realizing KT physics, and we further propose experimental detection of its intriguing properties. TmMgGaO4 is one of a number of recently-synthesized quantum magnets that are proposed to realize important theoretical models. Here the authors demonstrate the agreement between detailed experimental measurements and state-of-the-art predictions based on the 2D transverse-field triangular lattice Ising model