This study suggests that loss of alkali-generating potential of tooth biofilms via the urease pathway has a positive relationship to dental caries.

Introduction Evaluation of the extent of socioeconomic inequalities in cancer incidence and mortality is essential to generate hypotheses in population health research and provides evidence for population-based strategies for comprehensive cancer control. The objective of this study was to create an area-based socioeconomic position (SEP) index to assess possible socioeconomic disparities in incidence and mortality of selected cancers in Puerto Rico. Methods Data for cancer incidence and mortality from 1995 to 2004 were obtained from the Puerto Rico Central Cancer Registry and the Puerto Rico Department of Health, and Puerto Rico socioeconomic data were obtained from the US Census 2000. We used principal component and factor analysis methods to construct the SEP index at the municipality level. We calculated age-adjusted incidence and mortality for each SEP area and used rate ratios to evaluate the differences by SEP. Results Incidence and mortality of cancer in Puerto Rico varied by SEP area. In general, the incidence and mortality for cancers of the esophagus and stomach were higher for municipalities with the lowest SEP; in contrast, rates for breast, colorectal, kidney, pancreas, prostate, and thyroid were higher for areas with the highest SEP. Conclusion These results highlight cancer disparities in Puerto Rico by SEP level that warrant further research.

Bacterial urease activity in dental plaque and in saliva generates ammonia, which can increase the plaque pH and can protect acid-sensitive oral bacteria. Recent cross-sectional studies suggest that reduced ability to generate ammonia from urea in dental plaque can be an important caries risk factor. In spite of this proposed important clinical role, there is currently no information available regarding important clinical aspects of oral ureolysis in children. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the distribution and pattern of urease activity in the dental plaque and in the saliva of children during a three-year period, and to examine the relationship of urease with some important caries risk factors. METHODS A longitudinal study was conducted with repeated measures over a three-year period on a panel of 80 children, ages three to six years at recruitment. The dynamics of change in urease activity were described and associated with clinical, biological, and behavioral caries risk factors. RESULTS Urease activity in plaque showed a trend to remain stable during the study period and was negatively associated with sugar consumption (P<0.05). Urease activity in unstimulated saliva increased with age, and it was positively associated with the levels of mutans streptococci in saliva and with the educational level of the parents (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The results of this study reveal interesting and complex interactions between oral urease activity and some important caries risk factors. Urease activity in saliva could be an indicator of mutans infection in children.

RationaleEthnopharmacology has documented hundreds of psychoactive plants awaiting exploitation for drug discovery. A robust and inexpensive in vivo system allowing systematic screening would be critical to exploiting this knowledge.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to establish a cheap and accurate screening method which can be used for testing psychoactive efficacy of complex mixtures of unknown composition, like plant crude extracts.MethodsWe used automated recording of zebrafish larval swimming behavior during light vs. dark periods which we reproducibly altered with an anxiogenic compound, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). First, we reversed this PTZ-altered swimming by co-treatment with a well-defined synthetic anxiolytic drug, valproic acid (VPA). Next, we aimed at reversing it by adding crude root extracts of Valeriana officinalis (Val) from which VPA was originally derived. Finally, we assessed how expression of neural activity-regulated genes (c-fos, npas4a, and bdnf) known to be upregulated by PTZ treatment was affected in the presence of Val.ResultsBoth VPA and Val significantly reversed the PTZ-altered swimming behaviors. Noticeably, Val at higher doses was affecting swimming independently of the presence of PTZ. A strong regulation of all three neural-activity genes was observed in Val-treated larvae which fully supported the behavioral results.ConclusionsWe demonstrated in a combined behavioral-molecular approach the strong psychoactivity of a natural extract of unknown composition made from V. officinalis. Our results highlight the efficacy and sensitivity of such an approach, therefore offering a novel in vivo screening system amenable to high-throughput testing of promising ethnobotanical candidates.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00213-016-4304-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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