Putative periodontal pathogens and non-oral bacteria alone or in association were strongly associated with periodontitis.

Nitazoxanide is widely available and exerts broad-spectrum antiviral activity in vitro. However, there is no evidence of its impact on SARS-CoV-2 infection.In a multicenter, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, adult patients presenting up to 3 days after onset of Covid-19 symptoms (dry cough, fever, and/or fatigue) were enrolled. After confirmation of SARS-CoV2 infection by RT-PCR on a nasopharyngeal swab, patients were randomised 1:1 to receive either nitazoxanide (500 mg) or placebo, TID, for 5 days. The primary outcome was complete resolution of symptoms. Secondary outcomes were viral load, laboratory tests, serum biomarkers of inflammation, and hospitalisation rate. Adverse events were also assessed.From June 8 to August 20, 2020, 1575 patients were screened. Of these, 392 (198 placebo, 194 nitazoxanide) were analysed. Median time from symptom onset to first dose of study drug was 5 (4–5) days. At the 5-day study visit, symptom resolution did not differ between the nitazoxanide and placebo arms. Swabs collected were negative for SARS-CoV-2 in 29.9% of patients in the nitazoxanide arm versus 18.2% in the placebo arm (p=0.009). Viral load was also reduced after nitazoxanide compared to placebo (p=0.006). The percent viral load reduction from onset to end of therapy was higher with nitazoxanide (55%) than placebo (45%) (p=0.013). Other secondary outcomes were not significantly different. No serious adverse events were observed.In patients with mild Covid-19, symptom resolution did not differ between nitazoxanide and placebo groups after 5 days of therapy. However, early nitazoxanide therapy was safe and reduced viral load significantly.

When evaluating a novel diagnostic examination for clinical use, it should be compared with a reference standard, defined as the best available examination, which may include clinical and laboratory criteria. The novel examination and reference standard's results are usually presented in the form of a 2 x 2 table, which allows calculation of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. It has been recommended that the measures of statistical uncertainty should be reported, such as the 95% confidence interval, when evaluating the accuracy of diagnostic examinations. Comparing the difference in sensitivity or specificity of a novel examination with the reference standard is important when evaluating its usefulness. The McNemar chi(2) test, used to compare discordance of two dichotomous responses, can be applied for this purpose. However, applying the McNemar test to a 2 x 2 table for comparing the accuracy of examinations is not recommended, since this test is sensitive to the proportion of positive versus negative subjects. Moreover, if the novel examination has higher sensitivity than the one considered as the reference standard, constructing a classic 2 x 2 table would result in low specificity of the novel examination. Thus, in order to compare sensitivities and specificities between examinations, this table is inappropriate and an independent reference standard is necessary. In this article, we propose the use of the McNemar chi(2) test to compare sensitivities between examinations using a 2 x 2 table exclusively among diseased patients, defined by a set of criteria and follow-up of patients. Likewise, specificities can be compared applying the McNemar test among healthy individuals.

Aim To assess the epidemiological and clinical factors that influence the prognosis of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Methods One hundred and twenty-one cases of oral and oropharyngeal SCC were selected. The survival curves for each variable were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox regression model was applied to assess the effect of the variables on survival. Results Cancers at an advanced stage were observed in 103 patients (85.1%). Cancers on the tongue were more frequent (23.1%). The survival analysis was 59.9% in one year, 40.7% in two years, and 27.8% in 5 years. There was a significant low survival rate linked to alcohol intake (p = 0.038), advanced cancer staging (p = 0.003), and procedures without surgery (p < 0.001). When these variables were included in the Cox regression model only surgery procedures (p = 0.005) demonstrated a significant effect on survival. Conclusion The findings suggest that patients who underwent surgery had a greater survival rate compared with those that did not. The low survival rates and the high percentage of patients diagnosed at advanced stages demonstrate that oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients should receive more attention.

This study provides the first estimates of adductor pollicis muscle thickness in normal healthy individuals. The adductor pollicis muscle has a positive correlation with anthropometric variables that estimate muscle mass, but fails to correlate with parameters that estimate fat mass. This measurement is now being evaluated as an anthropometric parameter in clinical studies.

Summary Matrix metalloproteinases play an important role during the initial process of enamel development and therefore may play a role in caries. Objectives To evaluate the association between MMP20 and caries experience in Brazilian children. Methods Eligible unrelated children with or without caries were evaluated using a cohort design. Demographic data and oral health habits were obtained though a questionnaire. Caries data was collected by clinical examination. Genotyping of the selected polymorphism was carried out by real-time PCR from genomic DNA. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between groups with distinct caries experience and oral health habits. Results Of 388 subjects, 161 were caries free children. There were no differences between caries levels and genotype distribution in the total cohort. When ethnic background was considered, differences in genotype distribution were observed in caries free children versus children with caries in Caucasians (p=0.03). Differences could also be seen when poor oral hygiene was used to stratify the analysis (p=0.02). Regression analysis, adjusted for genotype and ethnicity, confirmed that ingestion of sweets between meals increases the risk of presenting carious lesions (p=0.00001; OR=2.33; 95%CI 1.53–3.54). Conclusion Variation in MMP20 may be associated with caries experience mainly in Caucasian subjects with poor oral health habits.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a debilitating systemic condition. Our working hypothesis is that CKD predialysis patients with periodontitis would respond poorly to periodontal treatment owing to immunologic compromise. Twenty-one predialysis patients (group 1) and 19 individuals without clinical evidence of kidney disease (group 2) with chronic periodontitis were subjected to non-surgical periodontal treatment with no antibiotics. Clinical periodontal and systemic parameters were evaluated at baseline and 3 months after treatment. Both groups showed significant and similar post-treatment improvements in all periodontal parameters examined. Most interestingly, periodontal treatment had a statistically significant positive effect on the glomerular filtration rate of each individual (group 1, p = 0.04; group 2, p = 0.002). Our results indicate that chronic periodontitis in predialysis kidney disease patients improved similarly in patients with chronic periodontitis and no history of CKD after receiving non-surgical periodontal therapy. This study demonstrates that CKD predialysis patients show a good response to non-surgical periodontal treatment.

IntroductionThe aim was to evaluate three regions of reference (Björk, Modified Björk and mandibular Body) for mandibular registration testing them in a patients’ CBCT sample.MethodsMandibular 3D volumetric label maps were built from CBCTs taken before (T1) and after treatment (T2) in a sample of 16 growing subjects and labeled with eight landmarks. Registrations of T1 and T2 images relative to the different regions of reference were performed, and 3D surface models were generated. Seven mandibular dimensions were measured separately for each time-point (T1 and T2) in relation to a stable reference structure (lingual cortical of symphysis), and the T2-T1 differences were calculated. These differences were compared to differences measured between the superimposed T2 (generated from different regions of reference: Björk, Modified Björk and Mandibular Body) over T1 surface models. ICC and the Bland-Altman method tested the agreement of the changes obtained by nonsuperimposition measurements from the patients’ sample, and changes between the overlapped surfaces after registration using the different regions of reference.ResultsThe Björk region of reference (or mask) did work properly only in 2 of 16 patients. Evaluating the two other masks (Modified Björk and Mandibular body) on patients’ scans registration, the concordance and agreement of the changes obtained from superimpositions (registered T2 over T1) compared to results obtained from non superimposed T1 and T2 separately, indicated that Mandibular Body mask displayed more consistent results.ConclusionsThe mandibular body mask (mandible without teeth, alveolar bone, rami and condyles) is a reliable reference for 3D regional registration.