Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) interplay was investigated by examining liver and serum samples from 21 coinfected and 22 HBV-monoinfected patients with chronic liver disease. Different real-time PCR assays were applied to evaluate intrahepatic amounts of HBV DNA, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), pregenomic RNA (pgRNA), pre-S/S RNAs, and HDV RNA. Besides HBV DNA and HDV RNA levels, HBsAg concentrations in the sera were also determined. HDV-coinfected cases showed significantly lower median levels of serum HBV DNA (؊5 log), intrahepatic relaxed-circular DNA (؊2 log), and cccDNA (؊2 log) than those of HBV-monoinfected cases. Interestingly, pgRNA and pre-S/S RNA amounts were significantly lower (both ؊1 log) in HDV-positive patients, whereas serum HBsAg concentrations were comparable between the two patient groups. Pre-S/S RNA and HBsAg amounts per cccDNA molecule were higher in HDV-positive patients (3-fold and 1 log, respectively), showing that HBV replication was reduced, whereas synthesis of envelope proteins was not specifically decreased. The ratios of cccDNA to intracellular total HBV DNA showed a larger proportion of cccDNA molecules in HDV-positive cases. For these patients, both intrahepatic and serum HDV RNA amounts were associated with cccDNA but not with HBsAg or HBV DNA levels. Finally, HBV genomes with large deletions in the basal core promoter/precore region were detected in 5/21 HDV-positive patients but in no HDV-negative patients and were associated with lower viremia levels. These findings provide significant information about the interference exerted by HDV on HBV replication and transcription activities in the human liver.Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a worldwide diffuse pathogen commonly associated with severe forms of liver disease (9,21,22,35). HDV can establish infection only in individuals with continuing hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, since it requires obligatory helper functions provided by HBV for in vivo infection. In particular, HDV needs to borrow the envelope proteins produced by HBV, and consequently, the two viruses share the same outer coats, consisting of the HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) (21,35). In spite of this, HDV and HBV are completely different in terms of genome replication, with both showing several aspects that make their life cycles nearly unique among agents infecting animals. Very briefly, HDV is a small RNA virus with a single-stranded and circular genome of approximately 1,700 nucleotides (nt) that is replicated using a host RNA polymerase and contains a ribozyme able to selfcleave and self-ligate the circular HDV genome (30). In contrast, HBV is a closed, circular, partially double-stranded DNA virus of 3.2 kb containing four partially overlapping open reading frames that replicates via the formation of a circular covalently closed DNA (cccDNA) which serves as a template for the production of virus mRNAs, including an RNA pregenome that is reverse transcribed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes for the synthesis of the DNA molecule...

The field of dental implantology has made progress in recent years, allowing safer and predictable oral rehabilitations. Surely the rehabilitation times have also been reduced, thanks to the advent of the new implant surfaces, which favour the osseointegration phases and allow the clinician to rehabilitate their patients earlier. To carry out this study, a search was conducted in the Pubmed, Embase and Elsevier databases; the articles initially obtained according to the keywords used numbered 283, and then subsequently reduced to 10 once the inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The review that has been carried out on this type of surface allows us to fully understand the features and above all to evaluate all the advantages or not related. The study materials also are supported by a manufacturing company, which provided all the indications regarding surface treatment and confocal microscopy scans. In conclusion, we can say that, thanks to these new surfaces, it has been possible to shorten the time necessary to obtain osseointegration and, therefore, secondary stability on the part of implants. The surfaces, therefore, guarantee an improved cellular adhesion and thanks to the excellent wettability all the biological processes that derive from it, such as increases in the exposed implant surface, resulting in an increase in bone-implant contact (BIC).

The increment of recording atypical oral manifestation in young patients often related to systematic disease is today a challenge for the therapists. Sometime, the presence of tooth enamel lesions correlated with soft tissue lesions is just a symptom or a trigger sign for a deeper and undetermined disease. Recently, high impact has been developed toward the influence of the diet as a controlled and modifiable factor in patients affected by celiac pathologies. The celiac disease (CD) is a chronic immune-mediated disorder triggered by the ingestion of gluten that appears in genetically predisposed patients. Gluten is a proline-rich and glutamine-rich protein present in wheat (gliadin), barley (hordein), and rye (secalin). The gluten-free diet (GFD) seems to better influence the oral health status of the CD patients. For this reason, the main objective of this revision was to analyze the international data highlighting the relationship between celiac patients and the oral health impact profile. A comprehensive review of the current literature was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines by accessing the NCBI PubMed database. Authors conducted the search of articles in the English language published from 2008 to 2018. The first analysis with filters recorded 67 manuscripts accordingly with the selected keywords. Finally, a number of 16 appropriate published papers were comprehended in the review. The studies were different in terms of the structure, findings, outcomes, and diet quality evaluation, and for this reason, it was not possible to accomplish a meta-analysis of the recorded data. This manuscript offers some observational evidence to justify the advantages of gluten-free diets related to a better oral health status in the patients involved.

Aim. The aim of this study was to assess the success and the survival rate of dental implants placed in augmented bone after sinus lifting procedures. Material and Methods. 31 patients were mainly enrolled for a residual upper jaw crest thickness of 3 mm. CBCT scans were performed before and after the augmentation technique and at the follow-up appointments, at 3, 6, 12, 24, and up to 60 months. The follow-up examination included cumulative survival rate of implants, peri-implant marginal bone loss, and the height of sinus floor augmentation. Results. This retrospective study on 31 patients and 45 implants later inserted in a less than 3 mm crest showed excellent survival rates (99.5%), one implant was lost before loading due to an acute infection after 24 days, and two implants did not osteointegrate and were removed after 3 months. The radiological evaluation showed an average bone loss of 0.25 mm (±0.78 mm) at the first follow-up appointment (3 months) up to 0.30 mm (±1.28 mm) after 60-month follow-up. Conclusion. In this study it was reported how even in less than 3 mm thick crest a transcrestal technique can predictably be used with a long-term clinical and radiological outcome, giving patients excellent stability of the grafted material and healthy clinical results.