Prevalence of tooth wear on buccal and lingual surfaces and possible risk factors in young European adults

To assess the prevalence of tooth wear on buccal/facial and lingual/palatal tooth surfaces and identify related risk factors in a sample of young European adults, aged 18-35 years. Calibrated and trained examiners measured tooth wear, using the basic erosive wear examination (BEWE) on in 3187 patients in seven European countries and assessed the impact of risk factors with a previously validated questionnaire. Each individual was characterized by the highest BEWE score recorded for any scoreable surface. Bivariate analyses examined the proportion of participants who scored 2 or 3 in relation to a range of demographic, dietary and oral care variables. The highest tooth wear BEWE score was 0 for 1368 patients (42.9%), 1 for 883 (27.7%), 2 for 831 (26.1%) and 3 for 105 (3.3%). There were large differences between different countries with the highest levels of tooth wear observed in the UK. Important risk factors for tooth wear included heartburn or acid reflux, repeated vomiting, residence in rural areas, electric tooth brushing and snoring. We found no evidence that waiting after breakfast before tooth brushing has any effect on the degree of tooth wear (p=0.088). Fresh fruit and juice intake was positively associated with tooth wear. In this adult sample 29% had signs of tooth wear making it a common presenting feature in European adults.

The effect of aerobic exercise on intrahepatocellular and intramyocellular lipids in healthy subjects

BACKGROUND Intrahepatocellular (IHCL) and intramyocellular (IMCL) lipids are ectopic lipid stores. Aerobic exercise results in IMCL utilization in subjects over a broad range of exercise capacity. IMCL and IHCL have been related to impaired insulin action at the skeletal muscle and hepatic level, respectively. The acute effect of aerobic exercise on IHCL is unknown. Possible regulatory factors include exercise capacity, insulin sensitivity and fat availability subcutaneous and visceral fat mass). AIM To concomitantly investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on IHCL and IMCL in healthy subjects, using Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy. METHODS Normal weight, healthy subjects were included. Visit 1 consisted of a determination of VO2max on a treadmill. Visit 2 comprised the assessment of hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity by a two-step hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp. At Visit 3, subcutaneous and visceral fat mass were assessed by whole body MRI, IHCL and IMCL before and after a 2-hours aerobic exercise (50% of VO(2max)) using ¹H-MR-spectroscopy. RESULTS Eighteen volunteers (12M, 6F) were enrolled in the study (age, 37.6±3.2 years, mean±SEM; VO(2max), 53.4±2.9 mL/kg/min). Two hours aerobic exercise resulted in a significant decrease in IMCL (-22.6±3.3, % from baseline) and increase in IHCL (+34.9±7.6, % from baseline). There was no significant correlation between the exercise-induced changes in IMCL and IHCL and exercise capacity, subcutaneous and visceral fat mass and hepatic or peripheral insulin sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS IMCL and IHCL are flexible ectopic lipid stores that are acutely influenced by physical exercise, albeit in different directions. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrial.gov NCT00491582.

Differentiation between active and chronic Crohn's disease using MRI small-bowel motility examinations — Initial experience

AIM: To evaluate the influence of locally active Crohn's disease on systemic small-bowel motility in patients with chronic Crohn's disease compared to healthy individuals. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifteen healthy individuals (11 men, four women; mean age 37 years) and 20 patients with histopathologically proven active (n = 15; 10 women, 5 men; mean age 45 years) or chronic (n = 5; four women, one man; mean age 48 years) Crohn's disease were included in this institutional review board-approved, retrospective study. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; 1.5 T) was performed after standardized preparation. Two-dimensional (2D) cine sequences for motility acquisition were performed in apnoea (27 s). Motility assessment was performed using dedicated software in three randomly chosen areas of the small-bowel outside known Crohn's disease-affected hotspots. The main quantitative characteristics (frequency, amplitude, occlusion rate) were compared using Student's t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Three randomly chosen segments were analysed in each participant. Patients with active Crohn's disease had significantly (p < 0.05) reduced contraction frequencies (active Crohn's disease: 2.86/min; chronic: 4.14/min; healthy: 4.53/min) and luminal occlusion rates (active: 0.43; chronic: 0.70; healthy: 0.73) compared to healthy individuals and patients with chronic Crohn's disease. Contraction amplitudes were significantly reduced during active Crohn's disease (6.71 mm) compared to healthy participants (10.14 mm), but this only reached borderline significance in comparison to chronic Crohn's disease (8.87 mm). Mean bowel lumen diameter was significantly (p = 0.04) higher in patients with active Crohn's disease (16.91 mm) compared to healthy participants (14.79 mm) but not in comparison to patients with chronic Crohn's disease (13.68). CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggest that local inflammatory activity of small-bowel segments in patients with active Crohn's disease alters small-bowel motility in distant, non-affected segments. The motility patterns revealed reduced contraction-wave frequencies, amplitudes, and decreased luminal occlusion rates. Thus evaluation of these characteristics potentially helps to differentiate between chronic and active Crohn's disease.

Should the standard dimethyl sulfoxide concentration be reduced? Results of a European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation prospective noninterventional study on usage and side effects of dimethyl sulfoxide.

BACKGROUND Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is essential for the preservation of liquid nitrogen-frozen stem cells, but is associated with toxicity in the transplant recipient. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS In this prospective noninterventional study, we describe the use of DMSO in 64 European Blood and Marrow Transplant Group centers undertaking autologous transplantation on patients with myeloma and lymphoma and analyze side effects after return of DMSO-preserved stem cells. RESULTS While the majority of centers continue to use 10% DMSO, a significant proportion either use lower concentrations, mostly 5 or 7.5%, or wash cells before infusion (some for selected patients only). In contrast, the median dose of DMSO given (20 mL) was much less than the upper limit set by the same institutions (70 mL). In an accompanying statistical analysis of side effects noted after return of DMSO-preserved stem cells, we show that patients in the highest quartile receiving DMSO (mL and mL/kg body weight) had significantly more side effects attributed to DMSO, although this effect was not observed if DMSO was calculated as mL/min. Dividing the myeloma and lymphoma patients each into two equal groups by age we were able to confirm this result in all but young myeloma patients in whom an inversion of the odds ratio was seen, possibly related to the higher dose of melphalan received by young myeloma patients. CONCLUSION We suggest better standardization of preservation method with reduced DMSO concentration and attention to the dose of DMSO received by patients could help reduce the toxicity and morbidity of the transplant procedure.

European consensus statement on leptospirosis in dogs and cats.

Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution affecting most mammalian species. Clinical leptospirosis is common in dogs but appears to be rare in cats. Both dogs and cats, however, can shed leptospires in the urine. This is problematic as it can lead to exposure of humans. The control of leptospirosis, therefore, is important not only from an animal but also from a public health perspective. The aim of this consensus statement is to raise awareness of leptospirosis and to outline the current knowledge on the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnostic tools, prevention and treatment measures relevant to canine and feline leptospirosis in Europe.