Objective: This study used the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) method to evaluate the percentage of antioxidant activity (%AA) of green tea (GT) and sodium ascorbate (SA) gel in three concentrations (10%, 20% and 30%), and the influence of these concentrations on the microshear bond strength (μ-SBT) values of bleached enamel, using 10% carbamide peroxide (CP). Materials and methods: Eighty intact third molars were selected to perform the μ-SBT test, and were randomly divided into eight experimental groups: G1: positive control – no treatment; G2: negative control – bleached with CP; G3: PC +10% GT; G4: PC +20% GT; G5: PC +30% GT; G6: PC +10% SA; G7: PC +20% SA and G8: PC +30% SA. After applying the treatments, adhesive procedures were performed using Single Bond 2 and Filtek Z350XT. After 24 h, the samples were tested in a universal testing machine until fracture. The %AA was assessed in triplicate by DDPH method using a UV–VIS spectrophotometer. Results: In the μ-SBT, ANOVA revealed no significant difference between the antioxidants evaluated (p = .625), but did reveal significant effects of the concentrations studied (p = .007). A negative correlation was observed between μ-SBT and solution concentrations. The values of %AA were from 90.58 to 96.75. Conclusions: The reverse results occurred in μ-SBT values, only when the antioxidants were used in a 10% concentration and, %AA did not influence μ-SBT.

Aim. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the genotypic diversity of S. mutans in caries-free and caries-active preschool children in Brazil. Design. Twenty-eight preschool children were examined regarding caries experience by the dmft index. DNA from 280 isolates of S. mutans was extracted. S. mutans evaluated using to the PCR method, with primers for the glucosyltransferase gene. The genetic diversity of S. mutans isolates was analyzed by arbitrary primed-PCR (AP-PCR) reactions. The differences between the diversity genotypic and dmft/caries experience were evaluated by χ2 test and Spearman's correlation. Results. The Spearman correlation test showed a strong association between genotypic diversity and caries experience (r = 0.72; P < .001). There were more S. mutans genotypes in the group of preschool children with dental caries, compared with the caries-free group. Among the children with more than 1 genotype, 13 had dental caries (2 to 5 genotypes) and 4 were caries-free (only 2 genotypes). Conclusion. Our results support the previous findings of genetic diversity of S. mutans in preschool children being associated with dental caries. The investigation of such populations may be important for directing the development of programs for caries prevention worldwide.

Conflict of Interest Statement: The authors state that there are no financial and personal conflicts of interest that could have inappropriately influenced their work.

BACKGROUND: Pressure pain threshold (PPT) is decreased in several musculoskeletal disorders, giving indirect evidence regarding pain status. Despite the fact that PPT has been already proven to be reliable in patients with acute conditions, there is great variability of methods and results observed within studies, and only a few evidences confirming its reliability in chronic conditions. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to determine the test-retest reliability of PPT in the neck and low back regions to discriminate individuals with neck or low back pain from healthy individuals. Additionally, one secondary aim was to establish the minimum detectable change (MDC) and the standard error of measurement for future clinical studies and interventions. METHODS: In this reliability study, 74 individuals (15 individuals from the neck pain and 17 from the neck control group; 21 individuals from the low back pain and 21 from the low back control group). PPT was measured in the neck region (suboccipital, trapezius and supraspinal muscles) and in the lower back region (paraspinal muscles in the levels of L1, L3 and L5). Intrarater reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coeficient and Bland-Altman. RESULTS: Excellent intra-rater reliability was observed for both (ICC of 0.874 for the neck pain versus ICC of 0.895 in neck control group; ICC of 0.932 for the low back pain group versus ICC of 0.839 for the control group). A small bias was observed for all groups (-0.08 for the neck pain group versus 0.10 in the control group; and 0.32 in low back pain group versus 0.44 in the control group). Minimum detectable change of 0.63 kgf of neck pain and 1.21 kgf of low back pain was calculated. It was found difference in PPT between pain and control groups (p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: It may be suggested that the protocol with PPT is reliable and able to discriminate individuals with and without neck and low back pain with a minor measurement error. Therefore, this method may be used to detect possible progress after interventions in patients with neck or low back pain.

Background: The bariatric surgery may have negative repercussions on oral conditions. Aim: To evaluate the impact of oral health educational/preventive program developed with patients submitted to gastroplasties. Method: The sample consisted of 109 patients randomly allocated to two groups: intervention group (IG), where they participated in the oral health promotion program that include multiple educational-preventive approaches; control group (CG), where they received usual care from the bariatric clinic staff, without participation in the program. The oral conditions investigated in the pre-operative and postoperative periods of one month (1M) and six months (6M) were: dental caries, periodontal disease, tooth wear, dental plaque and salivary flow. Results: After bariatric surgery, patients in IG presented: fewer changes in enamel (6M: p=0.004), dentin (6M: p=0.005) and gingival bleeding (6M: p<0.0001), reduction in plaque index (1M, 6M: p<0.0001) and increased salivary flow (6M: p=0.039), when compared with CG. Incipient tooth wear was recorded in both groups (6M: p=0.713). Conclusion: There was a positive impact of the implemented program in the prevention of the main oral health problems in patients who underwent gastroplasties, contributing to their quality of life.

Objective The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy under different pulse regimes on cultures of semiconfluent L929 fibroblasts, evaluating cell viability, anatomical structural alterations, modulation of vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin 6, collagen type 1 alpha 1, collagen type 1 alpha 2, and fibroblast growth factor 7, as well as the amount of inflammatory mediators interleukin 2, interleukin 4, interleukin 6, interferon γ, tumor necrosis factor, interleukin 17A, and interleukin 10 at 24, 48, and 72 hrs. Design The design was experimental study. Methods The treatments consisted of 0.2 W/cm2 doses at a frequency of 1 MHz, with a pulse rate of 10% and 20%. Viability was assessed by the MTT assay (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide), gene expression by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and cytokine quantification by flow cytometry. Results At 48 hrs, ultrasound enhanced cell viability and affected interleukin 6 cytokine production, vascular endothelial growth factor, interleukin 6, type 1 alpha 1 and alpha 2 collagens, and fibroblast growth factor 7 gene modulation. Conclusions Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound therapy had a biostimulatory effect on semiconfluent in vitro L929 fibroblast cells, where the group with a dose of 0.2 W/cm2-10% (G2) presented higher responses, in all the analyzed aspects, toward the dose pulsed to 20%, confirming its therapeutic properties related to the initial phases of tissue healing.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major musculoskeletal disease with high prevalence in the elderly. The study of genetic polymorphisms of inflammatory mediators involved in OA may contribute to the elucidation of the complex pathophysiology of this disease and identification of susceptibility individuals. Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the association between polymorphism at tumor necrosis factor alpha gene (SNP-308 G/A TNFA) with presence, severity and functional status of osteoarthritis in elderly. Methods: This study was characterized as case-control and encompassed 257 physically independent elderly (Mean Age: 68.55 ± 5.2; Minimum age: 60 and Maximum age: 82) were recruited. After this selection, the groups were divided in: 92 elderly individuals with osteoarthritis (case group) and 165 without the disease (control group). Methods: The individuals were genotyped by the TaqMan real-time PCR system. The subjects were classified based on the degree of radiological impairment according to the criteria of Kellgren-Laurence and regarding functional impairment using the WOMAC and LEQUESNE questionnaires. Results: TNFA gene polymorphic individuals (subjects harboring allele A) are more affected by OA (χ 2 = 8.7, p = 0.003), once they have major radiological lesion both in hip (Fisher-Freeman-Halton Test = 3.9, p = 0.04) and knee (Fisher-Freeman-Halton Test = 4.0, p = 0.04) as well as worse functional status assessed by the Lequesne questionnaire (Mann-Whitney, p = 0.04). At the multivariate analysis, after adjustment for age, gender, body mass index, the presence of rare allele for TNFA (allele A) increases the susceptibility to OA development [OR: 1.87 (95% CI: 1.1-3.2)]. Conclusion: We conclude that the SNP − 308 G/A of TNFA gene may affect osteoarthritis susceptibility, severity and functional status of individuals with osteoarthritis.

Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain syndrome characterized by generalized skeletal muscle chronic pain. Its etiology is not well defined, because there are several factors that may trigger it such as physical and/or emotional stresses, or a genetic susceptibility, involving serotonergic, dopaminergic and catecholaminergic paths. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between the strength of the lower limb, genetic polymorphism of the serotonin receptor gene HTR 2A in women with fibromyalgia. Methods: In this observational study of case-control type 48 women were evaluated who belonged to the group with FM (52 ± 12 years) and 100 women in the control group (58 ± 11 years). Socio demographic and anthropometric data were collected and peripheral blood samples for DNA extraction; genotypic analyzes were performed by means of PCR in real time by TaqMan® system. The lower limb muscle strength was assessed through the test of sitting down and standing up for 30 s. The chi-square test or Fischer Exact was used for possible associations among the variables; the t-test for independent samples was used to compare the averages among the groups; the value of significance adopted was 5%. Results: There was an association between the polymorphism of the HTR2A gene with FM, demonstrating that carriers of the genotype GG have 24.39 times more likely to develop the syndrome (IC95% 5.15-115.47; p = 0.01). It was observed an association between FM and the test to sit and stand up demonstrating that women with fibromyalgia have lower limb muscle strength (p = 0.01). The study showed that the white race has 3.84 times more likely to develop FM (p = 0.01). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that women of Caucasian ethnicity with GG genotype or G allele presented greater risk of developing fibromyalgia and that these patients have lower limb muscle strength compared to the control group.