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Biomedical subjects

A Laforgia

Publications and source records attributed to A Laforgia.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Nicotine effects on polymorphonuclear cell apoptosis and lipopolysaccharide-induced monocyte functions. A possible role in periodontal disease?

Apoptosis provides a mechanism for clearance of unwanted cells in a variety of situations in which programmed or physiological cell death occurs; but the premature death of defensive cells could promote infection, inflammation and concomitant disease. We detected high values of apoptosis in polymorphonuclear cells (PMN) elicited from crevicular sulci of smokers affected by adult periodontitis. To learn more about the effects of nicotine on the periodontal environment, we studied its ability to modulate the apoptosis of two phagocytic lines, PMN and mononuclear cells, which are continuously recruited from gingival vessels to prevent or control plaque extension. Brief exposure of PMN to nicotine concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.3% shortened, in a dose-dependent relationship, the lag culture time required to observe at fluorescent microscopy the morphological traces of apoptosis. These observations were confirmed by specific tools of apoptosis: DNA fragmentation on gel electrophoresis and expression of the apoptosis-signaling receptor Fas/Apo-1. The apoptotic effect excited by nicotine on these first line defensive cells may be an important feature of the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. As for mononuclear leukocytes, nicotine was unable to induce apoptotic modifications on cells observed up to 72 h culture time, but the drug inhibited IL-1beta release and procoagulant activity (PCA) expression. The conflicting role played by these lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced monocyte functions in the inflammatory process is a further intrigue in the mechanism by which nicotine compromises the oral health.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed1993

Salivary effects on polymorphonuclear leukocyte functions.

Respiratory burst, enzymatic degranulation and bacterial killing were investigated on peripheral blood polymorphonuclear leukocytes (polymorphonuclear leukocytes) incubated with a pool of salivary fluids elicited from healthy donors. Low saliva concentrations primed polymorphonuclear leukocytes for enhancement of O2 consumption, O2- and beta-glucuronidase release and Staphylococcus aureus killing. Whole saliva, on the contrary, depressed all tested phagocytic activities.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Effects of calcium-phosphate-based materials on proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity of newborn rat periosteal cells in vitro.

The effects of dental materials, intended for bone substitution, on cell growth and alkaline phosphatase activity of newborn rat periosteal cells have been studied in vitro. Confluent periosteal cells were exposed to three apatite-based materials (400 micrograms/mL) with different physico-chemical properties. The materials were a beta-tricalcium phosphate with a microporous granular structure obtained by sinterization (Synthograft, Johnson & Johnson, East Windsor, NY), a 40-60-mesh microporous durapatite ceramic (Periograf, Sterling Drug, Inc., Rensselaer, NY), and a 1-2-mm-diameter hydroxyapatite ceramic (Osprovit, Feldmuhle Aktiengeselschaft, Plochingen, Germany) with macropores larger than 100 microns. Cell proliferation and alkaline phosphatase activity were assessed by incorporation of 3H-thymidine into trichloroacetic-acid-precipitable material and by a fluorimetric method, respectively. Cell viability and compatibility with the materials were determined by morphology in phase-contrast microscopy. Periosteal cells showed increased proliferation following exposure to Synthograft, but were unaffected by Osprovit, whereas Periograf caused significantly reduced cell growth. Alkaline phosphatase activity was unaffected by Osprovit, but was decreased by both Synthograft and Periograf. The results indicated a differential response of periosteal cells to bone-substituting materials with heterogeneous physico-chemical characteristics.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1991

[A bacteriological study of supragingival bacterial plaque in subjects undergoing orthodontic therapy].

Direct contact between tooth enamel and bacteria is currently considered a sine qua non of tooth decay. Any condition which encourages the deposit and accumulation of bacterial plaque represents a risk factor for tooth decay. Dental therapy often entails the use of bands or brackets which house metal apparatus used to apply force or support mobile devices (plates, etc.). It is therefore possible to hypothesise that, by preventing its mechanical removal, dental treatment can lead to quantitative and qualitative changes in bacterial plaque.

Bacteria, Aerobic↗
PubMed1990

[Echography in the study of sialolithiasis].

The US results are reported of 38 patients affected with sialolithiasis of the major salivary glands (37 cases of submandibular and 1 of parotid location). Sonography allowed all intraparenchymal calculi to be detected, as well as 59% of intraductal calculi. Associated US pathological features were: gland swelling in 36 cases (94%); ductal ectasia in 14 cases (61%); irregular echo structural arrangement of glandular parenchyma in 3 patients with multiple stones. US can be considered an useful diagnostic tool in sialolithiasis, for it allows the alterations in glandular structure in the late stages to be evaluated. Moreover, it may be repeated as often as necessary in the cases with multiple and/or recurrent stones.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Integrated instrumental diagnosis in salivary gland pathology].

The role of instrumental practice, especially using pictures, in the diagnosis of salivary gland conditions has been examined. A number of remarks arise out of the evaluation of possibilities and limitations of the various techniques. In general, the aid these offer when clinical medicine alone fails to achieve accurate diagnosis; then need to proceed from the simpler, more innocuous techniques to other more complex, invasive ones only when the limitations of the former prevent a complete classification of the features of the lesion. Used rationally, integrated instrumental diagnosis represents an extra tool available to the clinician.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMed1990

[Bonding between resins for bridges and crowns and composites: an experimental quantitative assessment].

Bonding between resin for bridges and crowns and composite substances: an experimental and quantitative assessment. Using a rigorous scientific protocol, a photopolymerizing composite was "stuck" in vitro to samples of four resins C + B using an enamel-dentine bonding and silanic primer. Subsequently, bonding was performed in two experimental conditions (dry and humid environments) in addition to analysing the site of fracture.

Composite Resins↗
PubMed1990

[Orofacial tuberculosis. A general and anatomico-clinical analysis of 35 cases].

Anatomo-clinical data of 35 cases of maxillofacial tuberculosis are reported; the different clinical presentations of primary and secondary forms (ulcers are the most common clinical feature) and of rare form (lupus) are described and the problems concerning differential diagnosis and therapy are discussed. In the author's experience the microinvasive cytohistologic techniques (FNAB) with elective histochemical stains have been founded very usefully. The role of the stomatologist in the early diagnosis of this still-diffuse and misleading pathology is also underlined.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

[Primary oral peripheral chondrosarcoma. Anatomo-clinical aspects and presentation of 2 cases with periodontal onset].

After a brief analysis of the anatomoclinical aspects of chondrosarcoma in general and of the characteristic and particular aspects of the forms with maxillofacial onset (lower age of onset, elective sites of onset anterior in the maxillary and posterior in the mandible, often insignificant standard X-ray pictures, high percentage of error in clinical and histological diagnosis) two cases of peripheral periodontal onset, with low degree of malignity (grade 1), with aspecific clinical and radiological aspects, both locally recurrent several times after nonradical surgery are reported.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

[Clinico-statistical, morphologic and microstructural analysis of 400 cases of sialolithiasis].

After reviewing the successive phases of lithogenesis, from dyschylia to outright calculosis, the clinico-epidemiological data on 400 cases of salivary calculosis with incidence according to location (94% submandibular, with 72% intraductal calculi), sex (70% male), age (86% between the second and fifth decades), concomitant pathologies (diabetes mellitus in 25% of cases, arterial hypertension in 20% of cases, chronic hepatopathies in 10% of cases) are presented. The morphological and microstructural aspects of the calculi, observed in polarised light under the optical microscope are reported. The scanty quantity of inorganic tissue contained and the presence of multiple and multidirectional growth nuclei in every calculus examined are pointed out.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1989

[Cleidocranial dysostosis].

Cleidocranial dysostosis is a syndrome defined by some workers as "osteodental" insofar as it presents with variously associated skeletal and dental anomalies. The aetiology, clinical picture and pathological anatomy are analysed, stress being laid on dental anomalies and on dentoskeletal irregularities. Finally, two clinical cases observed in recent years at the University of Bari Odontostomatological Clinic are reported.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Wegener's syndrome (or granulomatosis). A clinical case].

Wegener granulomatosis is characterized by focal necrotizing granulomatosis of the upper respiratory and pulmonary tracts, by a necrotizing vasculitis and focal necrotizing glomerulonephritis. Clinical symptoms typically include intractable sinusitis or persistent nasal obstruction, serous otitis media, hemoptysis and pleurisy. These symptoms can also be accompanied by intermittent fever, weight loss, myalgia and sensory neuropathy. The oral lesions, including palatal ulceration, lingual ulceration, aphthae, nonhealing extraction sockets, gingivitis, have been infrequently described. Wegener's granulomatosis occasionally presents in the early stages as a characteristic hyperplastic gingivitis, named by the authors "strawberry gums", which fails to respond to conventional periodontal therapy. A case is reported, in which this clinically distinctive gingivitis was the presenting lesion with the serous otitis, illustrating that less frequently occurring entities, such as Wegener's granulomatosis, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of localized gingival lesions which fail to respond to conventional therapy.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Oromaxillofacial changes in thalassemia major].

Sixty patients (31 male and 29 female) with thalassemia major, aged between 6 and 26 years, 18 of which were splenectomized, were observed in this study evaluating the oro-maxillo-facial alterations and correlating them to transfusion indexes, serum ferritin levels, splenectomy and age. For each patient a haematologic and odontostomatologic card was filed with a view to report the medical and clinical history regarding: the haematologic picture, the prevention of caries and parodontal disease, the facies characteristics, the odonto-stomatologic examination, the orthodontic diagnosis, the skull X-rays and the orthopantomography. Poor oral hygiene as well as misknowledge of prevention were generally observed. All the patients showed carious lesions but most of them had never seen a dentist for therapy. The disharmonious growth of splanchnocranium, with the enlargement of the jaw and of its alveolar process, induced by the bone marrow hyperplasia, produced various and serious malocclusion stages (Angle's II class, deep bite, open bite), gnathologic alterations, hypodiaphanous paranasal sinuses and orbital hypertelorism, with a typical oriental-like facies. Malocclusion and the poor oral hygienic conditions determined the occurrence of marginal gingivitis, mainly localized at the level of the lower frontal teeth. In only 3 patients the oral mucous membrane was pale and atrophic. During this investigation agenesia and dental retention were reported in 30% and in 26% of the examined cases respectively, while no patients had supernumerary teeth. Tooth volume, position and shape abnormalities rarely occurred. Only in two patients was enamel hypoplasia described. The caries frequency greatly varied in number and in degree. Only five patients did not show any carious lesions. The caries index (DMF) for the permanent teeth calculated in all the 60 subjects was 5, 12 +/- 4.76. By utilizing Spearman's rank test the number of teeth with caries in the permanent dentition (DFM) and in the mixed dentition (DFM + dmf) was correlated to the average value of ferritin, with the ferritin peak, with transfusion requirements and with the age of the patient at the date of the clinical examination. A significant inverse correlation was therefore demonstrated between transfusion requirements and caries in the mixed dentition. The chi 2 test was used to assess the different frequency of the caries index (above 5) between splenectomized and non-splenectomized patients. Splenectomy proved to be associated only apparently to the total number of patients with more than 5 caries. Conversely, in the non-splenectomized group the frequency of patients with more than 5 caries was definitely lower. Indeed the overall number of caries in both groups of splenectomized and non-splenectomized subjects, of the same average age, was almost identical. Consequently, splenectomy and the higher number of caries are statistically more probable in individuals affected by thalassemia, of increasing age, without however being mutually correlated.

Adolescent↗