[Embryonic development and structure of human Bruch's membrane]

A morphological study of Bruch's membrane was performed on 61 human embryonic and fetal eyes by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The basement membrane of retinal pigment epithelium could be identified in the 5 week embryo. At the 11th week, the five components of Bruch's membrane were all discernible. The features of the five components were topographically examined by scanning electron microscopy.

Comparison of fluoride concentrations in unstimulated whole saliva following the use of a fluoride dentifrice and a fluoride rinse

Recent evidence has suggested that the cariostatic effects of topical fluoride (F) are related to the presence of low concentrations of ionic F in the oral environment. The purpose of this study was to compare the retention of F in the oral environment over 24-hour periods after the use of a F dentifrice or a F rinse. Groups of ten consenting adult subjects (age 18-52 years) brushed and/or rinsed (B/R) in a standardized manner twice per day in the morning (AM) and before bed (PM) with either a placebo dentifrice (8 ppm F), NaF dentifrice (1100 ppm F), or NaF rinse (225 ppm F). Experiments were performed with placebo dentifrice only (PD); F dentifrice only (FD); F dentifrice followed by F rinse (FD/FR); placebo dentifrice followed by F rinse (PD/FR); and F rinse followed by placebo dentifrice (FR/PD). Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected at baseline and then at 0, 15, 30, and 45 min, 1, 2, and 8 hr after B/R in the AM, after B/R in the PM and upon rising the following morning. Salivary flow rate and F were determined for each sampling interval. The results of this study suggest that: (1) F rinse may be a more effective way of delivering topical F than F dentifrice; (2) based on F retention, the combination of FD/FR was not more effective than FR only (PD/FR); (3) older individuals with gingival recession retained higher F levels; and (4) bedtime F application resulted in longer F retention than did daytime application, which may have important implications for enamel remineralization.

Retention of topical fluoride in the mouths of xerostomic subjects

The total fluoride concentration in unstimulated whole saliva was measured before and at selected intervals after a self-applied 1.1% neutral NaF topical fluoride gel or use of a 0.05% neutral NaF fluoride mouthrinse in both normal individuals and patients with radiation-induced xerostomia. As expected, the gel resulted in higher peak fluoride values than the rinse and was retained in the mouth for longer periods of time in both groups. The xerostomic group expressed a mean oral fluoride concentration of 575 micrograms fluoride per gram of saliva within 1 min after the gel application and 150 micrograms/g following use of the mouthrinse, whereas the normal group exhibited peak concentrations of 112 and 71 micrograms/g, respectively, within 1 min after the same two treatments. The initial high levels of fluoride observed in normal subjects following the gel application decreased rapidly to less than 1 microgram/g within 2 h, whereas fluoride levels in the xerostomic subjects remained elevated above 12 micrograms/g for longer than 2 h. Similarly, following use of the mouthrinse, normal subjects' saliva fluoride levels decreased to less than 1 microgram/g within 1 h, whereas xerostomic subjects' saliva fluoride levels remained above 4 micrograms/g for longer than 2 h.

Effect of an anticalculus dentifrice on lesion progression under pH cycling conditions in vitro

The aim of the present study was to examine a sodium fluoride anticalculus dentifrice product containing soluble pyrophosphate for its ability to promote remineralization and/or inhibit demineralization of dental enamel in a pH cycling model in vitro. Enamel crowns with windows were subjected to 14 days of alternating demineralization and remineralization periods at 37 degrees C. Teeth were immersed 5 min daily in one of the test dentifrice systems (1:3 slurry in deionized water) between the demineralization and remineralization cycles. Test dentifrices included (1) sodium fluoride (NaF; 1,100 ppm F)/silica abrasive (Crest) and (2) NaF (1,100 ppm F) with 3.3% soluble pyrophosphate/silica abrasive (Crest Tartar Control). Controls included a placebo dentifrice (silica abrasive) with no added fluoride and a group which received no treatment at all, i.e., demineralization/remineralization only. Overall, both of the NaF dentifrices were very effective in limiting in vitro caries progression and were not significantly different from each other. Inclusion of pyrophosphate in the NaF dentifrice did not affect the net outcome of the cycling demineralization/remineralization processes which is in agreement with recent clinical and in situ studies of these products.

Effects of fluorides on in vitro acid production by dental plaque

A method that holds human dental plaque on a glass micro-electrode has been used to measure the pH depressions in plaque samples exposed to different concentrations of fluoride from sodium fluoride or sodium monofluorophosphate. Fluoride from both sources gave some inhibition of sucrose-induced acid formation at levels as low as 10 ppm and parallel results at other test concentrations of up to 200 ppm F. Repeated exposures of plaque to fluoride solutions did not interfere with its subsequent ability to ferment sucrose.

A deterministic approach for the estimation of mutation rates in cultured mammalian cells

Unequal growth rates between mutant and wild-type cells in a large population constitute a problem for the estimation of mutation rate. Over a period of cell growth, a selective advantage of one cell type over the other might lead to considerable error in the estimation of mutation rate if equal growth rates are assumed. In this study, we propose a formula and apply it to the estimation of spontaneous mutation rate in a growing population of Chinese hamster V79 cells in which ouabain-resistant mutant cells exhibit a slower growth rate than the wild-type cells. The formula is a generalization of that previously presented by Armitage (1953), and this is the first attempt to apply the deterministic approach for mutation rate estimation to cultured mammalian cells. The value of the estimated rate is compared with that derived from a parallel experiment using the fluctuation test of Luria and Delbrück (1943). The limitations and advantages of taking the deterministic approach to mutation rate estimation in mammalian cell systems are discussed.

Estimation of mutation rates in cultured mammalian cells

The factors that affect reliable estimations of mutation rates (mu) in cultured mammalian somatic cell populations by fluctuation analysis are studied experimentally and statistically. We analyze the differential effect of the final cell population size in each culture (Nt) and the number of parallel cultures (C) on the variation in the rate estimates (mu) inferred from the P0 method. The analysis can be made after the derivation of the variance of mu, which is a measure of variation of mu for a given combination of Nt and C in a number of repeat experiments. The variance of mu is inversely proportional to C and to the square of Nt . Nt determines the probability of occurrence of mutations in a cell culture. By influencing the size of P0, Nt also determines whether a rate estimate is obtainable from the experiment. Since Po is estimated from the fraction of cultures containing no mutation in a set of C cultures, C becomes a determining factor for the accuracy of mu. The rate estimated from P0 is biased, but the bias is in general 2 orders of magnitude smaller than mu. By the selection of an appropriate combination of Nt and C for the experiment, this bias can be reduced even further. Based on the notion of comparing two proportions, we propose a test statistic and have applied it to experimental results for a test of equality of mutation rates in different cell lines. This development places the comparison of mutation rates on a statistical basis.