Activities of lysozyme and salivary peroxidase in unstimulated whole saliva in relation to plaque and gingivitis scores in healthy young males.

The purpose of the present investigation was to study the suitability of the salivary activity of lysozyme and salivary peroxidase for monitoring the inflammatory state of the gingiva. Salivary peroxidase and lysozyme activities in resting whole saliva were measured in a group of 140 male subjects (aged 18-30 years). A full mouth, clinical assessment of the plaque index (PI) and the sulcus bleeding index (SBI) was made and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) flow was measured at teeth 16, 12, 24, 36, 32 and 44 with the Periotron 6000.

Interpretation of the vertical and longitudinal growth of the human skull.

Our model describes asymptotic growth as a time-dependent process which expresses a quantitative change in individual morphological factors. The development and growth of the face are intimately connected with the cranial base, which undergoes only minor changes between the ages of 0 to 25 years. The difference in growth of the neuro- and viscerocranium is evident in that the dimensions and angles of the viscerocranium undergo greater changes than those of the neurocranium.

In vitro model of characterizing the effects of compressive loading on proteoglycans in anatomically intact articular cartilage.

An in vitro method has been developed of cultivating anatomically intact articular cartilage (humeral head of dog) while excluding both bone tissue and other connective tissues with a condom, which controls changes in hydration and minimizes loss of proteoglycans. Compressive loading experiments were carried out with the condom-covered humeral head, to which contact stresses of 2.1 MPa, 3.

Quantitative and qualitative analyses of proteoglycans in cartilage extracts by precipitation with 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue.

The dye 1,9-dimethylmethylene blue may be used for the specific and quantitative precipitation of sulphated glycosaminoglycans as well as proteoglycans from the extracts of articular cartilage. The consumption of the dye DMMB enables to determine the amount of the proteoglycans present in the extract, by measuring the decrease of the absorption at 595 nm. The precipitated complex of DMMB and proteoglycans is used for qualitative investigations into the electrophoretic mobility of the different proteoglycans in agarose slab gel and their immunological characterization after blotting.

Nonactivatability of latent proteoglycanases in intact adult articular cartilage.

Para-aminophenylmercuric acetate activates collagenases and proteoglycanases in vitro only in cartilage plugs but not in intact articular cartilage. This suggests that activation of latent proteoglycanases is only possible after damage of the tissue's integrity. Therefore isolated plugs of cartilage seem not to be suitable for determining proteoglycan turnover.