Effects of acute exercise on salivary free insulin-like growth factor 1 and interleukin 10 in sportsmen.

Background: Saliva analysis is rapidly developing as a tool for the assessment of biomarkers of sports training. It remains poorly understood whether a short bout of sport training can alter some salivary immune biomarkers. Aim: To investigate the effect of acute exercise using football training session on salivary flow rate, salivary free Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and Interleukin 10 (IL-10). Methods: Saliva samples were collected before and immediately after a football session. Salivary flow rates, salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 (using ELISA) were determined. Data was analyzed and compared using Related Samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (non-parametric test). Relationships between salivary flow rate and levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 were determined using Spearman correlation test. Results: There were 22 male footballers with a mean age of 20.46 years. Salivary flow rate reduced significantly (p = 0.01) after the training session while salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 did not show any significant change. Also, there were no correlations between salivary flow rates and salivary levels of free IGF-1 and IL-10 before and after exercise. Conclusion: These findings suggest that acute exercise caused significant reduction in salivary flow rate but no change in the levels of salivary free IGF-1 and IL-10.

Point-of-care lactate and creatinine analysis for sick obstetric patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi: A feasibility study

Background: To achieve good outcomes in critically ill obstetric patients, it is necessary to identify organ dysfunction rapidly so that life-saving interventions can be appropriately commenced. However, timely access to clinical chemistry results is problematic, even in referral institutions, in the sub-Saharan African region. Reliable point-of-care tests licensed for clinical use are now available for lactate and creatinine. Aim: We aimed to assess whether implementation of point-of-care testing for lactate and creatinine is feasible in the obstetric unit at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH) in Blantyre, Malawi, by obtaining the opinions of clinical staff on the use of these tests in practice. Methods: During a two-month evaluation period nurse-midwives, medical interns, clinical officers, registrars, and consultants were given the opportunity to use StatStrip® and StatSensor® (Nova Biomedical, Waltham, USA) devices, for lactate and creatinine estimation, as part of their routine clinical practice in the obstetric unit. They were subsequently asked to complete a short questionnaire. Results: Thirty-seven questionnaires were returned by participants: 22 from nurse-midwives and the remainder from clinicians. The mean satisfaction score for the devices was 7.6/10 amongst clinicians and 8.0/10 amongst nurse-midwives. The majority of participants stated that the obstetric high dependency unit (HDU) was the most suitable location for the devices. For lactate, 31 participants strongly agreed that testing should be continued and 24 strongly agreed that it would influence patient management. For creatinine, 29 strongly agreed that testing should be continued and 28 strongly agreed that it would influence their patient management. Twenty participants strongly agreed that they trust point-of-care devices. Conclusions: Point-of-care clinical chemistry testing was feasible, practical, and well received by staff, and was considered to have a useful role to play in the clinical care of sick obstetric patients at this referral centre.

Salivary cortisol level and uncooperative behavior in pediatric dental practice

Aim: To investigate the relation between uncooperative behavior and salivary cortisol level in children who underwent preventive dental care. Methods: The sample was composed by 10 children of both sexes aged 40 to 52 months, presenting uncooperative behavior during dental preventive treatments. The saliva collection was performed using a cotton wheel and an Eppendorf tube (Sarstedt Salivete®) in 3 different moments: a) at home, on a day without dental treatment and at the same time on the day of the sessions treatment; b) 30 min after the end of the session, when there was manifestation of uncooperative behavior; c) 30 min after the end of the session, when there was a cooperative behavior of the child. A sample of saliva was centrifuged for 5 minutes at 2400 rpm, 1 of mL of saliva was pipetted in an Eppendorf tube and stored in a freezer at -20 ° C. For the determination of the levels of salivary cortisol was used an Active® kit for cortisol enzyme immunoassay (EIA) DSL-10-67100, composed of specific rabbit antibody anti-cortisol. Data were analyzed statistically for the uncooperative behavior issued in the beginning and at the end of sessions, using the paired t test (p<0.05) and for cortisol levels in saliva samples at home, after the beginning and at the end of sessions, using repeated-measures ANOVA and Tukey’s test (p<0.05). Results: During expression of uncooperative behavior in preventive dental care sessions the salivary cortisol level was significantly higher (0.65 ± 0.25 μg/dL) compared with expression of collaborative behavior (0.24 ± 0.10 μg/dL). Conclusions: It is possible to conclude that, even under preventive intervention, the stress must be controlled in order to reduce dental anxiety and fear.

Plasma D-lactate Levels in Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Premature Infants

Background: D-Lactate is normally present in the blood of humans at nanomolar concentrations due to methylglyoxal metabolism; millimolar D-lactate concentrations can arise due to excess gastrointestinal microbial production. Objectives: To examine the levels of plasma D-lactate in the necrotizing enterocolitis in premature infants. Patients and Methods: 128 premature infants were divided into control (group I, n = 69), feeding intolerance (group II, n = 42) and NEC (group III, n = 27) groups. Plasma D-lactate levels were measured at the onset of feeding intolerance or NEC and at weeks 2-3 in control infants (group I) by ELISA. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests and Student’s t-test. Results: In groups I, II, III, median birth weights were 1845.7 ± 267.5 g, 1913.1 ± 306.5 g, and 1898.4 ± 285.3 g, median gestational ages were 34.3 ± 1.7 weeks, 33.9 ± 2.2 weeks and 35.1 ± 2.6 weeks, ages of sampling were 12.3 ± 2.9 days, 14.6 ± 3.7 days and 15.1 ± 1.8 days, respectively. The differences of median birth weights, median gestational ages and ages of sampling were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The plasma D-lactate levels in groups I, II, III were 3.6 ± 1.9 μg/mL, 12.7 ± 8.3 μg/mL, and 35.4 ± 29.1 μg/mL, respectively, group III had higher plasma D-lactate level than groups I, II, and the difference among these groups was significant (x2 = 21.6, P < 0.01). Conclusions: Plasma D-lactate significantly increased early in NEC. Plasma D-lactate levels were associated with extensive disease in NEC infants. Therefore, it could be used as a diagnosis indicator in the early stage of NEC.