The bacteriology of the supragingival plaque of child dental patients in Kuwait.

Objective: To investigate the bacterial flora of the gingival plaques of pediatric dental patients in order to establish baseline data for future studies on the complex microbiota of the oral cavity of this group of child dental patients.

Subjects And Methods: Forty subjects, aged 3-12 years, were enrolled and investigated after informed consent was obtained. During the patients' first visit to the dental clinic supragingival plaque samples were collected from the gingival area of buccal and lingual tooth surfaces of all primary and permanent molar teeth using sterile curettes.

Variation in mitogenic response of cardiac and pulmonary fibroblasts to cerium.

Fibroproliferative response of rat heart and lung fibroblasts to the lanthanide cerium was examined, as the element has been implicated in the causation of cardiac and pulmonary fibrosis. Fibroblasts from both of the organs were morphologically identical, and the response to fetal bovine serum, a nonspecific mitogen, was also comparable. The oxygen radical generator (hypoxanthine + xanthine oxidase [Hyp.

Superoxide anions mediate proliferative response in cardiac fibroblasts.

The study was undertaken to examine whether superoxide anions mediate a proliferative response in cardiac fibroblasts. Cardiac fibroblasts isolated from newborn Wistar rats were exposed to superoxide anion generating system (hypoxanthine + xanthine oxidase) and its effect on cell growth was assessed. A stimulatory response on fibroblast proliferation was observed.

Stimulation of cardiac fibroblast proliferation by cerium: a superoxide anion-mediated response.

Unlabelled: Cardiac fibroblasts play a multifarious role in the maintenance of the functional and structural integrity of the heart. Therefore inadvertent proliferation of these fibroblasts can affect the normal functioning of the heart. The proliferation of fibroblasts could be due to various factors.