Publications by authors named "Alan Mighell"

Article Synopsis
  • Plexins are important receptors associated with semaphorin signaling, involved in essential cellular interactions during both development and adulthood, with only some variants linked to genetic diseases so far.
  • A study examined eight individuals from six families with a rare recessive condition characterized by amelogenesis imperfecta (AI), sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), and varying levels of intellectual disability, using genetic sequencing and variant analysis.
  • The research identified pathogenic biallelic variants in the plexin B2 gene, linked to a new autosomal recessive syndrome that features AI and SNHL, along with potential additional symptoms like intellectual disability and developmental abnormalities.
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Background: Collagen XVII is most typically associated with human disease when biallelic variants (>230) cause junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), a rare, genetically heterogeneous, mucocutaneous blistering disease with amelogenesis imperfecta (AI), a developmental enamel defect. Despite recognition that heterozygous carriers in JEB families can have AI, and that heterozygous variants also cause dominant corneal epithelial recurrent erosion dystrophy (ERED), the importance of heterozygous variants causing dominant non-syndromic AI is not widely recognised.

Methods: Probands from an AI cohort were screened by single molecule molecular inversion probes or targeted hybridisation capture (both a custom panel and whole exome sequencing) for variants.

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Aims This study aimed to use electronic referral management system (eRMS) oral surgery data across multiple sites in England to evaluate the service over a 34-month period in relation to: 1) pre- and post-pandemic referral rates in oral surgery; 2) examining the data for signs of inequality in obtaining a referral for oral surgery; and 3) considering the impact on service provision for oral surgery in England.Methods Oral surgery referral data were available from an eRMS for areas of England covered by this service for the 34-month period of March 2019 to December 2021 (inclusive), which included 12 months of pre-pandemic data and the first 22 months of the pandemic. The data were from the following regions in England: Central Midlands; Cheshire and Merseyside; East Anglia and Essex; Greater Manchester; Lancashire; Thames Valley; and Yorkshire and the Humber.

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Time spent as a student at a dental school leaves a legacy that shapes how each of us develops professionally and more generally as our lives progress. Personal reminiscences relate to our own time as a student. Comments years later that 'things are not the same' are true.

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Introduction Patients referred from primary dental care to hospital-based specialists in high volumes can contribute to significant NHS service pressures. Surprisingly, little is understood about what contributes to referral factors.Aims To gain new insight into the referral factors from primary dental care by interrogating the tri-speciality West Yorkshire managed clinical network (MCN) referral pathway data for a 36-month period (2016-2019).

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Background: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the oral mucosa. Currently there is no approved treatment for OLP. We report on the efficacy and safety of a novel mucoadhesive clobetasol patch (Rivelin -CLO) for the treatment of OLP.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to implement and evaluate supported self-management for chronic primary oro-facial pain, focusing on its effects on consultation rates, pain severity, daily life interference, and overall patient experience.
  • - After the intervention with 66 patients, significant improvements were observed: pain severity scores decreased from an average of 5.70 to 3.78, and monthly consultations dropped from 0.42 to 0.16, alongside notable cost savings of £293 per patient annually.
  • - Patient feedback indicated that the self-management approach acted as a helpful "constant companion" in their care, suggesting that early integration of such interventions into care pathways is crucial for improving health outcomes and service efficiency.
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Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) describes a heterogeneous group of developmental enamel defects that typically have Mendelian inheritance. Exome sequencing of 10 families with recessive hypomaturation AI revealed four novel and one known variants in the matrix metallopeptidase 20 (MMP20) gene that were predicted to be pathogenic. MMP20 encodes a protease that cleaves the developing extracellular enamel matrix and is necessary for normal enamel crystal growth during amelogenesis.

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The aim of this review is to assess the objective and subjective diagnosis, as well as symptomatic topical treatment of dry mouth conditions with a clear focus on textural perspective. We critically examine both the current practices as well as outline emerging possibilities in dry mouth diagnosis and treatment, including a patent scan for saliva substitutes. For diagnosis, salivary flow rates and patient-completed questionnaires have proven to be useful tools in clinical practice.

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Objective: This study sought to examine the effects of moderate intensity exercise on lubrication performance of saliva. We hypothesized that exercise would result in enhanced salivary lubricity by direct sympathetic stimulation of the salivary proteins.

Study Design: In total, 11 healthy young pre-menopausal female participants (mean age: 24.

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Ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1), also known as GPR68, is a proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) coupling to G/phospholipase C/Ca signaling pathways. The specific histidine residues at the extracellular surface of OGR1 are suggested to be involved in the proton sensing. Later, some metal ions, including nickel ion (Ni), are also indicated to be OGR1 ligands.

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Amelogenesis is the process of enamel formation. For amelogenesis to proceed, the cells of the inner enamel epithelium (IEE) must first proliferate and then differentiate into the enamel-producing ameloblasts. Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a heterogeneous group of genetic conditions that result in defective or absent tooth enamel.

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Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a heterogeneous group of genetic diseases characterised by dental enamel malformation. Pathogenic variants in at least 33 genes cause syndromic or non-syndromic AI. Recently variants in RELT, encoding an orphan receptor in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, were found to cause recessive AI, as part of a syndrome encompassing small stature and severe childhood infections.

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Objectives: Variants in DLX3 cause tricho-dento-osseous syndrome (TDO, MIM #190320), a systemic condition with hair, nail and bony changes, taurodontism and amelogenesis imperfecta (AI), inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Different variants found within this gene are associated with different phenotypic presentations. To date, six different DLX3 variants have been reported in TDO.

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Dentin dysplasia(DD) is a rare autosomal dominant disorder associated with disturbance of the dentin. While the crowns appear clinically normal, on radiography, the pulp spaces appear partially or completely obliterated, with short blunted roots, and multiple periapical radiolucencies affecting the apparently sound teeth. Clinical signs include spontaneous abscess formation or increased tooth mobility which can lead to exfoliation.

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Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is the name given to a heterogeneous group of conditions characterized by inherited developmental enamel defects. AI enamel is abnormally thin, soft, fragile, pitted and/or badly discolored, with poor function and aesthetics, causing patients problems such as early tooth loss, severe embarrassment, eating difficulties, and pain. It was first described separately from diseases of dentine nearly 80 years ago, but the underlying genetic and mechanistic basis of the condition is only now coming to light.

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"Amelogenesis imperfecta" (AI) describes a group of genetic conditions that result in defects in tooth enamel formation. Mutations in many genes are known to cause AI, including the gene encoding the serine protease, kallikrein related peptidase 4 (), expressed during the maturation stage of amelogenesis. In this study we report the fourth mutation to be identified in autosomal recessively-inherited hypomaturation type AI, c.

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'Amelogenesis imperfecta' (AI) describes a group of inherited diseases of dental enamel that have major clinical impact. Here, we identify the aetiology driving AI in mice carrying a p.S55I mutation in enamelin; one of the most commonly mutated proteins underlying AI in humans.

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Amelogenesis is the process of dental enamel formation, leading to the deposition of the hardest tissue in the human body. This process requires the intricate regulation of ion transport and controlled changes to the pH of the developing enamel matrix. The means by which the enamel organ regulates pH during amelogenesis is largely unknown.

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Amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) is a heterogeneous group of genetic conditions that result in defective dental enamel formation. Amelotin (AMTN) is a secreted protein thought to act as a promoter of matrix mineralization in the final stage of enamel development, and is strongly expressed, almost exclusively, in maturation stage ameloblasts. Amtn overexpression and Amtn knockout mouse models have defective enamel with no other associated phenotypes, highlighting AMTN as an excellent candidate gene for human AI.

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Heimler syndrome (HS) consists of recessively inherited sensorineural hearing loss, amelogenesis imperfecta (AI) and nail abnormalities, with or without visual defects. Recently HS was shown to result from hypomorphic mutations in PEX1 or PEX6, both previously implicated in Zellweger Syndrome Spectrum Disorders (ZSSD). ZSSD are a group of conditions consisting of craniofacial and neurological abnormalities, sensory defects and multi-organ dysfunction.

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Biallelic FAM20A mutations cause two conditions where Amelogenesis Imperfecta (AI) is the presenting feature: Amelogenesis Imperfecta and Gingival Fibromatosis Syndrome; and Enamel Renal Syndrome. A distinctive oral phenotype is shared in both conditions. On Sanger sequencing of FAM20A in cases with that phenotype, we identified two probands with single, likely pathogenic heterozygous mutations.

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