Differential expression of the glucose transporters in mouse gustatory papillae.

Taste receptors and their downstream signaling molecules are activated by sugars and sweeteners in the gut and participate in the regulation of glucose transport into enterocytes. The glucose transporter families GLUT and SGLT are responsible for the absorption of glucose, GLUT4 and SGLT1 being expressed preferentially in T1R3-positive taste cells. However, the expression patterns of the other glucose transporters in mouse gustatory tissues have not yet been elucidated.

New method for determining surface roughness of tongue.

Objective: The degree of atrophy of the lingual papillae in elderly individuals was evaluated using a quantitative method.

Subjects And Methods: One hundred and eighty-two subjects living in nursing homes and 20 healthy adults as controls were studied. To express the degree of atrophy of the lingual papillae quantitatively, lingual surface roughness was determined by taking an impression with silicone dental material.

Leiomyomatous hamartoma of the midline maxillary gingival presenting as a congenital epulis: a case report with an immunohistochemical study.

An otherwise-healthy 2-year-old Japanese female presented with a polyp-like lesion on the palatal surface at the incisive papilla. The appearance of the lesion was similar to that of a congenital epulis. The histological findings showed proliferating mesenchymal components that contained mainly smooth muscle admixed with collagen fibres, nerve fibres, small vessels and mucous salivary glands.

Inhibition of xanthine oxidase activity by an oxathiolanone derivative of quercetin.

An oxathiolanone derivative of rutin could be produced in the stomach after the ingestion of rutin containing foods, and the oxathiolanone derivative could be hydrolysed to an oxathiolanone derivative of quercetin (quercetin-oxathiolanone) in the intestine. Quercetin-oxathiolanone as well as quercetin inhibited xanthine oxidase. Approximately 0.

Apoptosis and survivability of human dental pulp cells under exposure to Bis-GMA.

Objective: In the present study, we examined whether 2, 2-bis [4-(2-hydroxy-3-methacryloxypropoxy) phenyl] propane (Bis-GMA) has effects on LSC2 cells, human dental pulp cell line.

Material And Methods: The viability, cell cycle, and morphology of LSC2 cells were analyzed after exposure to several different concentrations of Bis-GMA. The recovery of viability of Bis-GMA exposed cells was also analyzed in the condition without Bis-GMA.

Role of heme oxygenase-1 in inflammatory response induced by mechanical stretch in synovial cells.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism by which heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) regulates inflammatory responses induced by mechanical stretch in human fibroblast-like synoviocyte (HFLS) cells.

Materials And Methods: HFLS cells were cultured in the presence of hemin and seeded into fibronectin-coated silicon chambers. The chambers were attached to a stretching apparatus which applied a uniaxial sinusoidal stretching force.

Risk factors for neurosensory disturbance after bilateral sagittal split osteotomy based on position of mandibular canal and morphology of mandibular angle.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential morphologic risk factors for postoperative neurosensory disturbance (NSD) after bilateral sagittal split osteotomy.

Patients And Methods: The study subjects were 30 skeletal Class III patients (9 males and 21 females), with a mean age of 22.0 years (range, 16-39 years).

Streptococcus anginosus l-cysteine desulfhydrase gene expression is associated with abscess formation in BALB/c mice.

Streptococcus anginosus, an anginosus group bacterium, is frequently isolated from odontogenic abscesses, and is the oral bacterium that is primarily responsible for producing hydrogen sulfide from l-cysteine through the action of its l-cysteine desulfhydrase (βC-S lyase) enzyme. However, the relationship between its production of hydrogen sulfide and abscess formation has not been investigated. To elucidate the etiological role of hydrogen sulfide in abscess formation, we initially measured, using specific primers, expression of the lcd gene, which encodes βC-S lyase, in the pus of abscesses that formed in BALB/c mice following subcutaneous injection of S.

Neuronal effects of neurokinin B on the rat subfornical organ.

The subfornical organ is an essential central nucleus for angiotensin II-induced body fluid regulation. Similar to angiotensin II, centrally injected neurokinin B (NKB) may induce cardiovascular responses by the subfornical organ; however, it does not induce water intake. To clarify this inconsistency, we investigated the neuronal effects of NKB on subfornical organ neurons in slice preparations along with its behavioral effects in vivo.

Mineral trioxide aggregate inhibits osteoclastic bone resorption.

Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA), a commonly used endodontic repair material, is useful for both basic and clinical research, and the effect of MTA on osteoblast differentiation has been well-defined. However, the effects of MTA on osteoclastic bone resorption are not fully understood. Hence, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of MTA solution in the regulation of osteoclast bone-resorbing activity using osteoclasts formed in co-cultures of primary osteoblasts and bone marrow cells.

Inhibition of buckwheat starch digestion by the formation of starch/bile salt complexes: possibility of its occurrence in the intestine.

During the digestion of starch in foods, starch is mixed with bile in the duodenum. Because fatty acids and some kinds of polyphenols could bind to starch, it was postulated that bile salts might also bind to starch. The purpose of this paper is to study the effects of bile and bile salts on starch/iodine complex formation and pancreatin-induced starch digestion.

Neurokinin B activates the formation and bone resorption activity of rat osteoclasts.

Neurokinin B (NKB) is a neuropeptide in the tachykinin family that acts as a neurotransmitter and neuromodulator, primarily in the central nervous system. The distribution and role of NKB and its receptor, the neurokinin-3 receptor (NK-3R), in peripheral tissues are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the distribution of NKB and NK-3R in peripheral tissues as well as the role of NKB in bone metabolism, especially in osteoclast formation and bone resorption activity through NK-3R.

Importance of magnetic resonance imaging for evaluation of a child with prominent swelling of the facial region after trauma: report of a case.

In the present case of a 9-year-old girl with prominent swelling in the mental and facial regions after trauma, repeated magnetic resonance (MR) examinations were performed to evaluate areas of incision, because the swelling became worse and more prominent despite intravenous antibiotic treatment. However, there was no evidence of respiratory tract impingement or deformation, including obliteration, on MR imaging. Therefore, surgical treatment involving an incision because of facial region swelling was cancelled, and the intravenous antibiotic therapy was continued.

The cellular and molecular mechanisms of bone invasion by oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) are malignant tumours that frequently invade the mandibular bone and bone invasion is a common clinical problem. Recent studies have revealed that bone resorption by osteoclasts is an important step in the process of bone invasion by oral SCCs. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of bone invasion by oral SCCs remain unclear.

Apatite-coated hyaluronan for bone regeneration.

The materials for the repair of bone defects require bone-inductive and bioabsorbable properties. We developed an apatite-coated hyaluronan (ACH) as a bone-regeneration material. To examine the initial behavior of osteoblast-like cells on ACH and its bone-inductive activity, we evaluated the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast-like cells grown on ACH in vitro, and examined the effect of ACH on bone regeneration in vivo, comparing these with the effects of an atelocollagen sponge (AS).

Perspectives on a new educational system for dental hygiene students in Japan.

The purpose of this article is to report changes to dental hygiene education in Japan and to evaluate the successful implementation of these changes in 2010. The legislative change that began in 2005 revised the length of education for dental hygiene students from two years to three or four years (the mandate was three years), which has led to a dramatic change in program curriculum. After a five-year moratorium, a new curriculum has been established for dental hygiene education in Japan.

Mechanisms involved in regulation of osteoclastic differentiation by mechanical stress-loaded osteoblasts.

Mechanical stress is known to be important for regulation of bone turnover, though the detailed mechanisms are not fully understood. In the present study, we examined the effect of mechanical stress on osteoblasts using a novel compression model. Mouse osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells were embedded in three-dimensional (3D) gels and cultured with continuous compressive force (0-10.

Serum albumin (SA) levels and 10-year mortality in a community-dwelling 70-year-old population.

Although an association between SA concentrations and mortality in the patients is well known, this association is not conclusive in elderly community-dwelling populations. We therefore attempted to determine whether this association could be extended to a Japanese 70-year-old community-dwelling population. Seventy-year-old subjects residing in Niigata City, Japan participated.

Alveolar ridge reconstruction with titanium mesh and autogenous particulate bone graft: computed tomography-based evaluations of augmented bone quality and quantity.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality and quantity of augmented bone following alveolar ridge reconstruction with titanium mesh and autogenous particulate bone graft for implant placement in terms of the preoperative bone defect.

Materials And Methods: Forty-one patients (50 sites) rehabilitated between September 2000 and May 2009 with autogenous particulate intraoral bone or iliac cancellous bone marrow grafts and micro-titanium meshes were enrolled. We classified the bone defects by means of shape as complex horizontal-vertical (HV), horizontal (H), and socket (S) types, and the augmented bone was evaluated based on preoperative computed tomographic data.

Orthodontic treatment of a unilateral impacted mandibular canine and first premolar: a case report.

Background: Few dentists have seen an impacted mandibular canine and first premolar, and there is little information in the literature on the treatment of this rare condition.

Case Report: A 13-year-old Japanese male with an impacted mandibular right canine and first premolar was treated orthodontically. We discuss both the surgical and orthodontic options and present the successful orthodontic correction of a unilaterally impacted mandibular canine and first premolar.

Effects of risedronate on cortical and trabecular bone of the mandible in glucocorticoid-treated growing rats.

Introduction: This study was performed to estimate the effects of risedronate on mandibular bone density, bone structure, and bone metabolism in established glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis in growing rats.

Methods: The rats were given oral risedronate at 0, 0.5, or 1.

Lactacystin, a proteasome inhibitor, enhances BMP-induced osteoblastic differentiation by increasing active Smads.

Proteasome inhibitors enhance bone formation and osteoblastic differentiation in vivo and in vitro. In the present study, we examined whether the molecular mechanisms of lactacystin, one of many proteasome inhibitors, stimulated the osteoblastic differentiation of C2C12 cells that is induced by bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). Pretreatment with lactacystin enhanced the alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity induced by BMP2, BMP4 or BMP7, but lactacystin did not induce ALP in the absence of BMPs.

The effects of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound exposure on gingival cells.

Background: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) has been used in fracture treatment to shorten the time needed for biologic wound healing. Clinical trials applying LIPUS in implant dentistry have reported accelerated soft-tissue healing and osseointegration. However, details of the clinical effects of LIPUS have not been well characterized.

Mash1 is required for the differentiation of AADC-positive type III cells in mouse taste buds.

Mash1 is expressed in subsets of neuronal precursors in both the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. However, involvement of Mash1 in taste cell differentiation has not previously been demonstrated. In this study, we investigated the role of Mash1 in regulating taste bud differentiation using Mash1 KO mice to begin to understand the mechanisms that regulate taste bud cell differentiation.