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SUMMARYObjective: The aim of the research was to assess the oral hygiene habits in the elderly group of study population of Southern Poland. Methods: The study was conducted in dental services in two selected cities in Southern Poland. The group of subjects consisted of 664 respondents (272 men, 392 women) aged 65 to 81 years. Oral hygiene was measured with the author's anonymous questionnaire consisting of twenty questions. Questions related to information on personal history and general health, comorbidities, dietary habits, alcohol consumption, smoking, taking drugs and the state of oral hygiene practices as frequency of visits to the dentist and the number of own teeth.Results: The majority of the subjects had higher n = 240 (36.1%) and secondary n = 219 (33%) education and were predominantly n = 590 (89%) professionally inactive (retirees or pensioners). No significant differences were found between the groups: women and men. But there were differences in technologies used, the examined men significantly often used computer in comparison with the women's group. In total, 19.6% had own natural teeth only, 45.0% own teeth and dentures, 30.0% dentures only, and 5.4% neither teeth nor dentures. Majority of subjects brush their teeth or dentures only 1-2 times a day (80%) and visit the dentist less than once in 2 years or once a year (75%). Women significantly more often stated use of a toothbrush and taking care of oral hygiene and compared to men, they declared higher number of own teeth.Conclusion: People aged over 65 neglect hygiene and oral care. Women pay more attention to oral hygiene and they have more own teeth than men. The most frequent cause of oral hygiene neglect in the elderly could be gender, the socio-economic conditions, behaviour habits and lack of sufficient health education. The dentist may need to consult with the patient's GP the development of the appropriate personalised treatment plan for the elderly. Young dentists need to be educated in order to provide appropriate dental care to the elderly.

Advances in genomics, molecular pathology and metabolism have generated many candidate biomarkers of colorectal cancer with potential clinical value. Epidemiological and biological studies suggest a role for adiposity, dyslipidaemia, hyperinsulinemia, altered glucose homeostasis, and elevated expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis members in the risk and prognosis of cancer. This review discusses some recent past and current approaches being taken by researches in obesity and metabolic disorders. The authors describe three main systems as the most studied metabolic candidates of carcinogenesis: dyslipidemias, adipokines and insulin/IGF axis. However, each of these components is unsuccessful in defining the diseases risk and progression, while their co-occurrence increases cancer incidence and mortality in both men and women.

Adamalisynes (ADAMs) play an important role in inter-membrane interactions, cell adhesion and fusion processes and protein shedding from the cell surface. Many reports indicate that members of the ADAMs family are overexpressed in human cancer. The aim of the present study was to evaluate ADAM28 and Insulin Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 (IGFBP-3)) gene expression in colorectal carcinoma tissues with regard to the overweight or obese status of the patients using an oligonucleotide micro array technique. Fresh tissue specimens were obtained from colorectal cancer patients during surgical treatment. Eighteen specimens from tumour and 18 normal tissue specimens from colorectal cancer patients at clinical stages III and IV were analysed. The examined patients were divided into two groups; those with BMI;::25 and those with normal BMI. The control group consisted of 18 specimens of non-neoplastic colon tissues, which were divided between overweight/obese and normal body weight patients. The gene transcriptional activity from the specimens was analysed using an oligonucleotide microarray technique. Microarrays and rinsing and marking solutions were prepared according to the procedure in the Gene Expression Analysis Technical Manual. The following conclusions were made: i) change of ADAM28 and IGFBP-3 genes expression are present in the normal tissue in overweight/obese patients with colorectal cancer only; ii) the observed molecular variability of ADAM28 and IGFBP-3 expression may be an initial process of cancer proliferation; iii) the histopathologically normal surgical margin in this group of patients was not equal to the molecular margin.Adamalisynes (ADAM -a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain), also known as MCDs (metalloprotease/disintegrin/cysteine rich protein), belong to a large family of zinc-dependent proteins referred to as methizines. Admalisynes is a group consisting of more than 30 type I transmembrane

Abstract.Cancer is a disease of genomic instability, a multistep process involving numerous mutations and chromosomal aberrations. Telomeres are highly specialized structures at the ends of chromosomes and function to stabilize and protect the ends of linear chromosomes, therefore determining cellular immortalization. Homeostasis of telomere length is a multifactor-dependent process. Since cellular immortalization is an early and essential step towards cancer, the aim of the present study was to determine immortalization genes that are significant in colon cancer and assess their usefulness in the early diagnosis of this tumor. Expression profiles of 119 transcripts known to be involved in cellular immortalization were assessed with oligonucleotide microarrays in 13 probes of colon adenocarcinoma (low and high clinical stages) and 9 probes of controls (normal colon tissue) and were compared among these groups with the use of the Significant Analysis Microarray (SAM) software and independently verified with the effect size parameter. Eighteen genes with significantly differential expression between high clinical stage colon cancer and the control group, and 21 with differential expression between low clinical stage colon cancer and the control group were identified. Nine genes showing altered expression in both low and high clinical stage colon cancer: ACD (TPP1), DKC1 and ERCC1, MYC, MAX, NBN, NOLA2, PRKDC and HSP82 should, in particular, be the subjects of further studies including QRT-PCR methods.

The relationship between hyperglycemia and oxidative stress in diabetes is well known, but the influence of metabolic disturbances recognized as prediabetes, in elderly patients especially, awaits for an explanation. Methods. 52 elderly persons (65 years old and older) with no acute or severe chronic disorders were assessed: waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (FAT), and arterial blood pressure. During an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) fasting (0′) and 120-minute (120′) glycemia and insulinemia were determined, and type 2 diabetics (n = 6) were excluded. Subjects were tested for glycated hemoglobin HbA1c, plasma lipids, total antioxidant status (TAS), thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances (TBARS), and activity of erythrocyte superoxide dismutase (SOD-1). According to OGTT results, patients were classified as normoglycemics, (NGT, n = 18) and prediabetics, (PRE, n = 28). Results. Both groups did not differ with their lipids, FAT, and TBARS. PRE group had higher WC (P < 0.002) and BMI (P < 0.002). Lower SOD-1 activity (P < 0.04) and TAS status (P < 0.04) were found in PRE versus NGT group. Significance. In elderly prediabetics, SOD-1 and TAS seem to reflect the first symptoms of oxidative stress, while TBARS are later biomarkers of oxidative stress.

In patients with mild-to-moderate risk of CAD, a decreased serum concentration of IGF-1 was observed three months after beginning a low-fat diet. However, no changes in the serum concentration of IGF-1 were noted in patients with high-to-very high risk of CAD. Additional three-month treatment with simvastatin decreased the serum concentration of IGF-1.

The aim of the study is to analyse gene typing with the use of the microarray technique (HG-U133A, Affymetrix), differentiating colorectal cancer tissues from tissues assessed histopathologically as healthy ones among a panel of 93 mRNA of gene encoding proteins involved in the activation of cellular signal transduction pathways by insulin-like growth factors. The study was conducted on a group of 8 colorectal cancer patients. Frozen tumor and healthy specimens from the patients were used in molecular tests. Transcript IGF2 differentiated cancer from healthy tissue. Among the genes participating in the cascade of signal transfer in cells activated by IGF, GRB10, PIK3R3, PIK3R1, and IRSI were qualified as differentiating transcripts. IRSI indicated over-expression in tumour. Transcript SMAD2 showed a significant changed in tumour samples (increased expression).