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Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) can help plants to tolerate arsenic (As) toxicity. However, plant responses are found to vary with the host plant and the AM fungal species. The present study compares the efficacy of two AM fungi Rhizoglomus intraradices (M1) and Glomus etunicatum (M2) in amelioration of As stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L. var. HD-2967). Mycorrhizal (M) and non-mycorrhizal (NM) wheat plants were subjected to four levels of As (0, 25, 50, and 100 mg As kg-1 soil). Although As additions had variable effects on the percentage of root colonized by the two fungal inoculants, each mycobiont conferred benefits to the host plant. Mycorrhizal plants continued to display better growth than NM plants. Formation of AM helped the host plant to overcome As-induced P deficiency and maintained favorable P:As ratio. Inoculation of AMF had variable effects on the distribution of As in plant tissues. While As translocation factor decreased in low As (25 mg kg-1 soil), it increased under high As (50 and 100 mg As kg-1 soil). Further As translocation to grain was reduced (As grain:shoot ratio) in M plants compared with NM plants. Arsenic-induced oxidative stress (generation of H2O2 and lipid peroxidation) in plants reduced significantly by AMF inoculation. The alleviation potential of AM was more evident with increase in severity of As stress. Colonization of AMF resulted in higher activities of the antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and guaiacol peroxidase). It increased the concentrations of the antioxidant molecules (carotenoids, proline, and α-tocopherol) than their NM counterparts at high As addition level. Comparatively higher activities of enzymes of glutathione-ascorbate cycle in M plants led to higher ascorbate:dehydroascorbate (AsA:DHA) and glutathione:glutathione disulphide (GSH:GSSG) ratios. Inoculation by AMF also augmented the glyoxalase system by increasing the activities of both glyoxalase I and glyoxalase II enzymes. Mycorrhizal colonization increased concentrations of cysteine, glutathione, non-protein thiols, and activity of glutathione-S-transferase that facilitated sequestration of As into non-toxic complexes. The study reveals multifarious role of AMF in alleviation of As toxicity.

BALP showed promising results and can be employed as a potential biomarker for the estimation of growth status.

The study was undertaken to determine serum/urinary fluoride status and comparison of free T4, free T3 and thyroid stimulating hormone levels of 8 to 15 years old children with and without dental fluorosis living in an endemic and non-endemic fluorosis area. A sample group of 60 male and female school children, with or without dental fluorosis, consuming fluoride-contaminated water in endemic fluoride area of Udaipur district, Rajasthan were selected through a school dental fluorosis survey. The sample of 10 children of same age and socio-economic status residing in non endemic areas who did not have dental fluorosis form controls. Fluoride determination in drinking water, urine and blood was done with Ion 85 Ion Analyzer Radiometer with Hall et al. method. The thyroid gland functional test was done by Immonu Chemiluminiscence Micropartical Assay with Bayer Centaur Autoanalyzer.The significantly altered FT3, FT4 and TSH hormones level in both group1A and 1B school children were noted. The serum and urine fluoride levels were found to be increased in both the groups. A significant relationship of water fluoride to urine and serum fluoride concentration was seen. The serum fluoride concentration also had significant relationship with thyroid hormone (FT3/FT4) and TSH concentrations. The testing of drinking water and body fluids for fluoride content, along with FT3, FT4, and TSH in children with dental fluorosis is desirable for recognizing underlying thyroid derangements and its impact on fluorosis.

BackgroundWith change in concepts of growth determination methods, there is a surge in the measurement of biomarkers for appraisal of growth status. Osteocalcin is a bone-specific protein and was observed to parallel the normal growth curve. Hence, the present study was intended to assess the levels of serum osteocalcin and serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and compare them with cervical vertebral maturation index (CVMI) stages.MethodsThe cross-sectional study was performed on 150 subjects (75 males and 75 females) in the age group of 8–20 years and segregated into six CVMI stages. Serum osteocalcin and IGF-1 were estimated by ELISA. Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the mean ranks of serum osteocalcin and serum IGF-1 with different CVMI stages. Spearman correlation was performed to find association between serum osteocalcin and serum IGF-1 across six CVMI stages.ResultsPeak serum IGF-1 levels were obtained at CVMI stages 4 and 3 for males and females, respectively, with insignificant difference between stages 3 and 4 in females. Peak serum osteocalcin levels were found at stage 5 and 3 for males and females with insignificant difference from other stages except stages 5 and 6 in males. A statistically significant correlation was seen between serum IGF-1 and serum osteocalcin across six CVMI stages (P < 0.01).ConclusionsOsteocalcin followed IGF-1 across all CVMI stages but showed insignificant interstage differences.

Objective:To cephalometrically evaluate and compare the skeletal, dentoalveolar, and soft tissue changes after maxillary protraction with skeletally anchored and conventional facemask.Methods:The data for the study were collected from the pre- and post-treatment records of patients of maxillary retrusion treated with skeletally anchored and conventional facemask therapy. Twenty subjects were included in the study and were categorized into two groups, namely skeletal anchored maxillary protraction (SAMP) group with the mean age of 10.10 ± 1.1 years and conventional facemask maxillary protraction (CFMP) group with the mean age of 9.90 ± 1.1 years. Pre and post-treatment lateral cephalograms were assessed.Results:The data were analyzed by Mann–Whitney test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The mean duration of treatment in SAMP group and CFMP group was 5.8 months and 10 months, respectively. The mean forward displacement of the maxilla (vertical point A) was 3.40 ± 1.07 mm in SAMP group and 2.80 ± 0.79 mm in CFMP group. The mandible showed downward and backward rotation in both the groups with more rotation in CFMP group. A significant increase in maxillary incisor inclination was seen in CFMP group as compared to SAMP group. A significant decrease was found in mandibular incisor inclination in both the treatment groups. The soft tissue changes corresponded to underlying skeletal tissue.Conclusions:SAMP is proven to be a better treatment modality as compared to CFMP for achieving true skeletal changes and minimal dental changes in cases with developing skeletal Class III with maxillary retrusion.

The aim of the current longitudinal study was to assess the levels of serum Bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and serum Insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in different cervical vertebral maturation index (CVMI) stages and observe their association with the mandibular growth. Blood samples and lateral cephalograms of 63 subjects (age group of 11–17 years) were obtained at two time points, 12 months apart. On the basis of CVMI, all subjects were divided into six groups based on whether the subjects remained in same CVMI stage or transitioned to the next CVMI stage. Annual mandibular length was related with serum BALP and serum IGF-1 levels estimated using ELISA. Serum IGF-1 and BALP attained highest levels at CVMI stage 3 with peak BALP levels observed earlier than IGF-1. Although a positive correlation was determined between IGF-1 and BALP but BALP followed skeletal growth pattern more precisely. Overall IGF-1 and BALP were negatively correlated with mandibular length with notable growth in CVMI groups 3–3 (P < 0.01), 3-4 (P < 0.01), 4-4 (P < 0.001) and 5-5 (P < 0.001). In conclusion, BALP is a potential biomarker for skeletal growth assessment. However, the mandibular growth pattern was independent of changes in IGF-1 and BALP.