Evaluation of an oral moisture-checking device for screening dry mouth

Objective: This multicenter clinical study was to assess the clinical usability of an oral moisture-checking device in detecting the dry mouth patients and evaluating the optimal measurement site. Materials and Methods: The study group comprised 250 patients with dry mouth and 241 healthy volunteer subjects at 13 medical centers. This device was used to measure the moisture degrees of the lingual mucosa and the buccal mucosa. Subjective oral dryness, objective oral dryness, and saliva flow rates were also compared between the two groups. For statistical analysis, receiver-operating characteristic analysis was performed to calculate the area under the curve (AUC). Results: The moisture degree of the lingual mucosa was significantly lower in the dry mouth group (27.2 ± 4.9) than that in the healthy group (29.5 ± 3.1, AUC = 0.653). When a lingual mucosa moisture degree of 31.0 or higher was defined as normal, less than 27.0 as dry mouth, and 27.0 to less than 31.0 as borderline zone of dry mouth, both the sensitivity and the specificity for the diagnosis of dry mouth were close to 80%. Conclusion: These results suggest that the oral moisture-checking device is a usable screening device for dry mouth.

Massive low-grade myxoid liposarcoma of the floor of the mouth:A case report and review of literature

BACKGROUND Oral liposarcoma is an extremely rare lesion that is often clinically misdiagnosed as a benign tumor due to its asymptomatic and indolent clinical course.Here,we report a case of massive low-grade myxoid liposarcoma(MLS)of the floor of the mouth.CASE SUMMARY A 71-year-old man presented with a huge mass in the left floor of the mouth.A biopsy was performed,and a diagnosis of a myxoid tumor suspicious for lowgrade MLS or myxoma was made.Gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging showed an intensely enhanced tumor lesion that occupies the left sublingual space and extends to the submandibular space.Submandibular dissection,tumor resection,and reconstruction with a radial forearm flap were performed.The surgical specimen exhibited histologically low-grade MLS.Fused in sarcoma(FUS,also known as TLS)and DNA damage-inducible transcript 3(DDIT3,also known as CHOP)break-apart was not detected in the fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis.The tumor was completely encapsulated and did not require additional treatment.Furthermore,no recurrence was reported 40 mo after surgery.CONCLUSION We experienced an extremely rare,massive,low-grade MLS emerging from the floor of the mouth.Oftentimes,an MLS of the floor of the mouth lacks significant clinical findings and is often misdiagnosed.Although no FUS-DDIT3 fusion gene was detected,a low-grade MLS was ultimately diagnosed based on the histological findings.

Detection of Photoacoustic Signals from Blood in Dental Pulp

Photoacoustic waves from hemoglobin solutions in dental roots are detected by using a 1064-nm laser and an ultrasonic soft probe based on a composite transducer on the tooth surface. The high-frequency ultrasonic waves are detected from a tooth with a hemoglobin solution in the pulp cavity due to the large heat transfer coefficient and absorption coefficient of hemoglobin. The spectral intensities of frequency components higher than 1 MHz show good correlation with the hemoglobin solution concentrations, and maps of frequency spectra calculated by taking short-time Fourier transforms clearly exhibit the effect of absorbance in dental pulp.

Hepatitis C virus-associated pruritus: Etiopathogenesis and therapeutic strategies

In addition to its contributing role in the development of chronic liver diseases, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with extrahepatic manifestations, particularly, cutaneous-based disorders including those with pruritus as a symptom. Pruritus is frequently associated with the development of chronic liver diseases such as cholestasis and chronic viral infection, and the accumulation of bile acids in patients’ sera and tissues as a consequence of liver damage is considered the main cause of pruritus. In addition to their role in dietary lipid absorption, bile acids can trigger the activation of specific receptors, such as the G protein-coupled bile acid receptor (GPBA/ TGR5). These types of receptors are known to play a crucial role in the modulation of the systemic actions of bile acids. TGR5 expression in primary sensory neurons triggers the activation of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) leading to the induction of pruritus by an unknown mechanism. Although the pathologic phenomenon of pruritus is common, there is no uniformly effective therapy available. Understanding the mechanisms regulating the occurrence of pruritus together with the conduction of large-scale clinical and evidence-based studies, may help to create a standard treatment protocol. This review focuses on the etiopathogenesis and treatment strategies of pruritus associated with chronic HCV infection.

Calcitonin and vitamin D3 have high therapeutic potential for improving diabetic mandibular growth

The goal of this study was to assess the effect of the intermittent combination of an antiresorptive agent （calcitonin） and an anabolic agent （vitamin D3） on treating the detrimental effects of Type 1 diabetes mellitus （DM） on mandibular bone formation and growth. Forty 3-week-old male Wistar rats were divided into four groups： the control group （normal rats）, the control C＋D group （normal rats injected with calcitonin and vitamin D3）, the diabetic C＋D group （diabetic rats injected with calcitonin and vitamin D3） and the diabetic group （uncontrolled diabetic rats）. An experimental DM condition was induced in the male Wistar rats in the diabetic and diabetic C＋ D groups using a single dose of 60 mg.kg-1 body weight of streptozotocin. Calcitonin and vitamin D3 were simultaneously injected in the rats of the control C＋D and diabetic C＋D groups. All rats were killed after 4 weeks, and the right mandibles were evaluated by micro-computed tomography and histomorphometric analysis. Diabetic rats showed a significant deterioration in bone quality and bone formation （diabetic group）. By contrast, with the injection of calcitonin and vitamin D3, both bone parameters and bone formation significantly improved （diabetic C＋ D group） （P 〈 0.05）. These findings suggest that these two hormones might potentially improve various bone properties.

Malignant Lymphoma with Initial Symptoms in the Mandibular Region

Primary intraosseous lymphoma is rare and there are few case reports manifesting with a mass in the mandible. Thus, we retrospectively reviewed and analyzed the clinical characteristics, treatment, and outcome of extranodal non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) with initial mandibular symptoms in our department. At initial treatment of dental clinics, dentists had diagnosed as dental or gingival diseases and had performed dental treatment. Neurological disorder to involvement of the inferior alveolar nerve was present in 80.0% of our cases. On dental or panoramic radiography a specific radiolucent lesion in the mandible was not detected, except for dental lesions. On CT, NHL of the mandible region has no widening and no clear destruction but a slit-like the cortex bone destruction pattern with keeping in shape of the mandibular body (62.5% of CT-examined cases), and extraosseous soft tissue mass are clearer on MRI (100.0% of MRI-examined cases). Histopathologically, 80.0% of our cases were diagnosed as diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). One case as B-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma and one case as B-cell lymphoma unclassifiable with features intermediate between DLBCL and Burkitt lymphoma were Stage IV (Ann Arbor staging system) and had poor prognosis. The disease-specific survival rate was 77.8% at 5 years. If unexplained non-specific symptoms such as swelling of the jaw, pain, neurological disorder of the inferior alveolar nerve, tooth mobility are observed, oral surgeons and dentists should not perform dental treatments. CT and MRI show disease specific appearance to be able to give a definitive diasnosis as NHL. PET/CT is useful for scaninng of whole body. A deep bone biopsy is preferred for suspected malignant lymphoma.