Immediate and sustained changes in tongue movement with an experimental palatal Fistula: A case study

Objective: To determine the immediate and longer-term effect(s) on tongue movement following the placement of an experimental opening through a palatal obturator (replicate of subject's prosthesis) worn by an adult male with an unrepaired cleft of the hard and soft palate.Methods: Tongue movements associated with an anterior experimental opening of 20 mm(2) were examined under three conditions: a control condition in which the subject wore the experimental obturator completely occluded, a condition immediately after drilling the experimental openings through the obturator, and a condition after 5 days in which the subject wore the experimental obturator with the experimental opening. An Electromagnetic Articulograph was used for obtaining tongue movements during speech.Results: the findings partly revealed that the immediate introduction of a perturbation to the speech system (experimental fistula) had a temporary effect on tongue movement. After sustained perturbation (for 5 days), the system normalized (going back toward control condition's behavior). Perceptual data were consistent with kinematic tongue movement direction in most of the cases.Conclusions: Although the immediate response can be interpreted as indicative of the subject's attempts to move the tongue toward the opening to compensate for air loss, the findings following a sustained perturbation indicate that with time, other physiological adjustments (such as respiratory adjustments, for example) may help reestablish the requirements of a pressure-regulating system.

Myenteric Denervation Downregulates Galectin-1 and-3 Expression in Gastric Carcinogenesis

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Impedance e-tongue instrument for rapid liquid assessment

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Simple mucin-type carbohydrate antigens (T, sialosyl T, Tn and sialosyl-Tn) in breast carcinogenesis

Immunohistochemical analysis of the expression of simple mucin-type carbohydrate antigens (Tn, sialyl-Tn and T) was performed in a series of 43 cases of intraductal hyperplasia without atypia, 9 cases of intraductal hyperplasia with atypia, 54 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 26 cases of invasive breast carcinoma. We also studied 36 cases of isolated breast normal epithelium, 20 cases of 'normal' breast epithelium adjacent to neoplasms and 14 cases of apocrine metaplasia. All antigens were detected in different frequencies in normal, hyperplastic, metaplastic and neoplastic breast epithelium. Tn and sialyl-Tn are expressed more frequently in malignant than in benign breast epithelium; while Tn expression increases from normal to invasive carcinomas, sialyl-Tn increases until DCIS and drops in invasive carcinomas, suggesting that either there is a failure of a proportion of DCIS to progress to invasive carcinoma or loss of expression of sialyl-Tn when some carcinomas become invasive. The high frequency of Tn and sialyl-Tn expression in breast intraductal proliferations probably reflects incomplete glycosylation in these lesions, which is a well-known tumour-associated phenomenon and supports the assumption that such lesions are putative precursors of breast cancer. T antigen was expressed in all groups studied, but its prevalence differed significantly between normal and neoplastic epithelium. The expression of these antigens in epithelium adjacent to carcinomas is similar to that found in isolated normal breast epithelium, whereas apocrine metaplasia has a pattern of simple mucin-type glycosylation that is specific and distinct from that of the normal breast epithelium, with a high frequency of marked expression of Tn and sialyl-Tn. The similarity of the pattern of expression of simple mucin-type antigens in metaplasia and malignant neoplasia reduces the usefulness of these markers from a diagnostic standpoint.

Comparison of uroplakin expression during urothelial carcinogenesis induced by N-butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine in rats and mice

The expression of uroplakins, the tissue-specific and differentiation- dependent membrane proteins of the urothelium, was analyzed immunohistochemically in N butyl-N-(4-hydroxybutyl)nitrosamine (BBN)-treated rats and mice during bladder carcinogenesis. Male Fischer 344 rats were treated with 0.05% BBN in the drinking water for 10 wk and were cuthanatized at week 20 of the experiment. BBN was administered to male B6D2F1 mice; it was either provided at a rate of 0.05% in the drinking water (for 26 wk) or 5 mg BBN was administered by intragastric gavage twice weekly for 10 wk, followed by 20 wk without treatment. In rats, BBN-induced, noninvasive, low grade, papillary, transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) showed decreased uroplakin-staining of cells lining the lumen but showed increased expression in some nonluminal cells. In mice, nonpapillary, high-grade dysplasia, carcinoma in situ, and invasive carcinoma were induced. There was a marked decrease in the number of uroplakin-positive cells lining the lumen and in nonluminal cells. This occurred in normal-appearing urothelium in BBN-treated mice and in dysplasic urothelium, in carcinoma in situ, and in invasive TCC. The percentage of uroplakin-positive nonluminal cells was higher in control mice than in rats, but it was lower in the mouse than in the rat after BBN treatment. Uroplakin expression was disorderly and focal in BBN-treated urothelium in both species. These results indicate that BBN treatment changed the expression of uroplakins during bladder carcinogenesis, with differences in rats and mice being related to degree of tumor differentiation.

Effects of crude extracts of Agaricus blazei on DNA damage and on rat liver carcinogenesis induced by diethylnitrosamine

The effects of crude extracts of the mushroom Agaricus blazei Murrill (Agaricaceae) on both DNA damage and placental form glutathione S-transferase (GST-P)-positive liver foci induced by diethylnitrosamine (DEN) were investigated. Six groups of adult male Wistar rats were used. For two weeks, animals of groups 3 to 6 were treated with three aqueous solutions of A. blazei (mean dry weight of solids being 1.2, 5.6, 11.5 and 11.5 mg/ml, respectively). After this period, groups 2 to 5 were given a single ip injection 200 mg/kg DEN and groups 1 and 6 were treated with 0.9% NaCl. All animals were subjected to 70% partial hepatectomy at week five and sacrificed 4, 24 and 48 h or 8 weeks after DEN or 0.9% NaCl treatments (10th week after the beginning of the experiment). The alkaline comet assay and GST-P-positive liver foci development were used to evaluate the influence of the mushroom extracts on liver cell DNA damage and on the initiation of liver carcinogenesis, respectively. Previous treatment with the highest concentration of A. blazei (11.5 mg/ml) significantly reduced DNA damage, indicating a protective effect against DEN-induced liver cytotoxicity/genotoxicity. However, the same dose of mushroom extract significantly increased the number of GST-P-positive liver foci.

Fluorescence spectroscopy for tongue carcinoma detection: Study in an animal model

Fluorescence diagnosis of malignant lesions has been showed as an attractive optical technique due especially to its real-time response and a more objective and quantitative evaluation. Even though the oral cavity allows a direct examination many lesions are diagnosed when it is already in advanced stage, compromising the patient prognosis. In this study, the fluorescence spectroscopy was used to the detection of chemically induced carcinoma at the lateral border of the tongue in a hamster model. Two excitations wavelengths in visible region were applied: 442 and 532 nm. All the spectra results were analyzed comparing with the histopathological diagnosis. The better results were achieved with the 442 nm laser excitation. The spectra from carcinoma showed new emission bands and these were used to determined different ratios for a quantitative analysis. Using the 625-645 nm fluorescence range under 442 nm excitation (A3 coefficient) the percentage of false negative was of 9.1%, however the false positive percentage was of 18.5%. The 532 nm excitation provided a better normal tissue detection compared to 442 nm excitation. The ideal clinical condition is probably the use of multiple wavelengths excitation for a broader tissue fluorescence investigation.

Extravasation mucocele involving the ventral surface of the tongue (glands of Blandin-Nuhn)

Background. Mucocele is a lesion that involves the salivary glands and respective current ducts caused mainly by traumas in the affected area. Two different histological forms can be found: extravasation phenomenon and mucus-retention cyst where the former is the most frequently observed involving minor salivary glands such as the glands present in the anterior portion of the ventral surface of the tongue (glands of Blandin-Nuhn). Case Report. This report describes a large lesion involving the ventral surface of the tongue that was definitively diagnosed by histological examination as extravasation mucocele. Conclusion. Important concepts are reviewed to help clinicians correctly diagnose and treat this pathology. © 2006 The Authors.

Oral myofunctional and electromyographic evaluation of the anterior suprahyoid muscles and tongue thrust in patients with class II/1 malocclusion submitted to first premolar extraction

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the existence of myofunctional alterations before and after first premolar extraction in Class II/1 malocclusion patients that could endanger the long-term dental arch stability. Materials and Methods: The study was performed by means of morphological, functional and electromyographic analyses in 17 Class II/1 malocclusion patients (group T) and 17 Class I malocclusion patients (group C), both groups with 12-30-year age range (mean age: 20.93 ± 4.94 years). Results: Data analyzed statistically by Student's t-test showed a significant decrease in the maxillary and mandibular dental arch perimeters after orthodontic treatment (p<0.05). The Kruskal-Wallis test analyzed data from tongue posture at rest and during swallowing, not showing significant differences after treatment (groups Tb and Ta) (p>0.05). However, group T differed significantly from group C (p<0.05). The electromyographic data showed that the anterior right and left suprahyoid muscles acted synergistically in both groups, while having a lower myoelectric activity in group T during swallowing. Conclusions: Myofunctional alterations observed after the orthodontic treatment in Class II/1 malocclusion seemed to jeopardize the long-term orthodontic stability, making recurrence possible. Further research should be conducted to compare electromyographic data before and after orthodontic treatment in order to corroborate the results of the present investigation.