Investigation of the constituents of commercially available toothpastes

OBJECTIVES

Toothpaste plays a pivotal role in oral and dental hygiene. This cross-sectional study not only investigates the constituents of toothpastes available in the market and their frequency across different brands but also delves into the potential side effects, irritations, or unfavourable outcomes of these constituents, emphasizing the broader health and environmental implications.

METHODS

The largest of the five major chain markets in each district of Istanbul was visited, and adult toothpastes were included in this study. All the constituents that make up the toothpaste were individually recorded in an Excel database. Subsequently, literature regarding the purposes, toxic and potential side effects of each ingredient was gathered using databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed and ScienceDirect. The percentages of these ingredients' occurrence among all the toothpastes were calculated, and the ingredients were categorized into 15 distinct groups based on their usage purposes.

RESULTS

There were 160 different varieties of toothpaste belonging to 19 different brands on the market shelves. Although a total of 244 different ingredients were identified, only 78 of them were included in the study. Among the analysed toothpaste types, 105 of them were found to contain 1450 ppm fluoride, whilst 26 toothpaste variants were discovered to have fluoride levels below this value. Among the various ingredients analysed, particular attention was drawn to commonly debated compounds in oral care products. Specifically, titanium dioxide was found in 68% (n = 111) of the varieties, sodium lauryl sulphate in 67% (n = 108) and paraben in 2% (n = 4), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Whilst certain ingredients may raise concerns for potential side effects and health considerations within the human body, the toothpaste has long been regarded as an indispensable tool for maintaining optimal oral and dental health. However, gaining a deeper understanding and conducting research on each constituent that comprises the toothpaste, as well as raising awareness in this regard, holds significant importance for human health.

Ingredients in Commercially Available Mouthwashes

OBJECTIVES

Mouthwashes, a cornerstone of oral and dental hygiene, play a pivotal role in combating the formation of dental plaque, a leading cause of periodontal disease and dental caries. This study aimed to review the composition of mouthwashes found on retail shelves in Turkey and evaluate their prevalence and side effects, if any.

METHODS

The mouthwashes examined were sourced from the 5 largest chain stores in each district of Istanbul. A comprehensive list of the constituents was meticulously recorded. The research was supported by an extensive compilation of references from scholarly databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. Through rigorous analysis, the relative proportions of mouthwash ingredients and components were determined.

RESULTS

A total of 45 distinctive variations of mouthwashes, representing 17 prominent brands, were identified. Amongst the 116 ingredients discovered, 70 were evaluated for potential adverse effects and undesirable side effects. The aroma of the mouthwash (n = 45; 100%), as welll as their sodium fluoride (n = 28; 62.22%), sodium saccharin (n = 29; 64.44%), sorbitol (n = 21; 46.6%), and propylene glycol (n = 28; 62.22%) content were the main undesireable features.

CONCLUSIONS

The limited array of mouthwashes found on store shelves poses a concern for both oral and public health. Furthermore, the intricate composition of these products, consisting of numerous ingredients with the potential for adverse effects, warrants serious attention. Both clinicians and patients should acknowledge the importance and unwarranted side effects of the compnents of the mouthwashes.

Can exposure to manganese and extremely low frequency magnetic fields affect some important elements in the rat teeth?

BACKGROUND

Length and level of exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is increasing in association with the widespread use of electrical and electronic devices and technological progress. The undesirable effects of extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs) on health have attracted considerable interest.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty-four four-month-old male Wistar rats divided into eight groups of eight rats each were used. Seven groups were exposed to varying dosages of manganese (Mn) and a 50 Hz magnetic field (MF) of approximately 1 mT, while the last group was set aside as the cage control group and not subjected to any procedure. This study was intended to investigate the interactions between the application of MF and Mn and the elements Ca, Zn, Mg, and P thought to be involved in caries, in rat teeth.

RESULTS

Levels of Ca, Mg, Zn, and P in the experimental group rats were different to those in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

The results demonstrate that ELF-MF and Mn can have significant effects on levels of elements in rat teeth. Further experimental and epidemiological studies of ELF-MF and Mn are needed in order to evaluate their dental effects.

Diagnostic accuracy of cone beam computed tomography and conventional multislice spiral tomography in sheep mandibular condyle fractures

OBJECTIVES

the aim of this study was to compare diagnostic accuracy of cone beam CT (CBCT) and multislice CT in artificially created fractures of the sheep mandibular condyle.

METHODS

63 full-thickness sheep heads were used in this study. Two surgeons created the fractures, which were either displaced or non-displaced. CBCT images were acquired by the NewTom 3G CBCT scanner (NIM, Verona, Italy) and CT imaging was performed using the Toshiba Aquillon multislice CT scanner (Toshiba Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan). Two-dimensional (2D) cross-sectional images and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions were evaluated by two observers who were asked to determine the presence or absence of fracture and displacement, the type of fracture, anatomical localization and type of displacement. The naked-eye inspection during surgery served as the gold standard. Inter- and intra-observer agreements were calculated with weighted kappa statistics. The receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses were used to compare statistically the area under the curve (AUC) of both imaging modalities.

RESULTS

kappa coefficients of intra- and interobserver agreement scores varied between 0.56 - 0.98, which were classified as moderate and excellent, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the imaging modalities, which were both sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of sheep condylar fractures.

CONCLUSIONS

this study confirms that CBCT is similar to CT in the diagnosis of different types of experimentally created sheep condylar fractures and can provide a cost- and dose-effective diagnostic option.

Treatment of chronic type B aortic dissection by endovascular grafting in a previously CABG patient. Case report

High mortality rates resulting from the surgical treatment of Type B aortic dissections have played an important role in seeking newer alternative therapy modalities for the treatment of the pathology. Especially since the early 1990s, endovascular grafting has become a popular option in the treatment of aortic diseases and with the increasing experience and advances in technology, it has, in recent years, become an alternative approach for the treatment of aortic dissections. In this report, we present the treatment of a 56-year-old male patient with a history of a coronary artery bypass grafting who presented with chronic type B aortic dissection. Endovascular stent graft implantation was performed with a hybrid therapy type of preliminary right subclavian artery to left subclavian artery bypass, followed by endovascular stent graft implantation to the dilated aneurismal segment of the descending aorta, for the treatment of chronic type B aortic dissection. The procedure and the postoperative course were uneventful; moreover, they were very comfortable for the patient undergoing an investigation of the descending aorta, when compared with the conventional surgical treatment modalities.

Endovascular therapy in the management of moderate and massive haemoptysis

The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate 140 patients with severe (97 massive, 43 moderate) haemoptysis treated by bronchial artery embolisation. Between January 1997 and April 2005, 140 patients (120 males and 20 females, aged 23-71 years) with severe haemoptysis considered surgically inoperable because of limited pulmonary reserve were treated by embolisation. The cause of haemoptysis was tuberculosis in 136 patients and malignancy in four. Embolisation succeeded in controlling haemoptysis immediately after the intervention in 138 patients (98.5%) and at 1 month in 126 patients (90%). Severe haemoptysis recurred in 11 patients with prior massive haemoptysis and 3 patients with prior moderate haemoptysis in a mean time of 3.7 months (1-7 months) after the last intervention. The bleeding source was detected during angiography and embolised in 12 of these patients. Two patients with malignant tumour died because of abundant bleeding, following an asymptomatic period of 30 days. There were no procedure-related major complications. Bronchial artery embolisation is a safe and effective palliative treatment alternative in moderate and massive haemoptysis.

Integration of Biological Control Agents and Systemic Acquired Resistance Inducers Against Bacterial Spot on Tomato

Two strains of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, two systemic acquired resistance inducers (harpin and acibenzolar-S-methyl), host-specific unformulated bacteriophages, and two antagonistic bacteria were evaluated for control of tomato bacterial spot incited by Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria in greenhouse experiments. Untreated plants and plants treated with copper hydroxide were used as controls. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria or a tap water control were applied as a drench to the potting mix containing the seedlings, while the other treatments were applied to the foliage using a handheld sprayer. The plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria strains, when applied alone or in combination with other treatments, had no significant effect on bacterial spot intensity. Messenger and the antagonistic bacterial strains, when applied alone, had negligible effects on disease intensity. Unformulated phage or copper bactericide applications were inconsistent in performance under greenhouse conditions against bacterial spot. Although acibenzolar-S-methyl completely prevented occurrence of typical symptoms of the disease, necrotic spots typical of a hypersensitive reaction (HR) were observed on plants treated with acibenzolar-S-methyl alone. Electrolyte leakage and population dynamics experiments confirmed that acibenzolar-S-methyl-treated plants responded to inoculation by eliciting an HR. Application of bacteriophages in combination with acibenzolar-S-methyl suppressed a visible HR and provided excellent disease control. Although we were unable to quantify populations of the bacterium on the leaf surface, indirectly we determined that bacteriophages specific to the target bacterium reduced populations of a tomato race 3 strain of the pathogen on the leaf surface of acibenzolar-S-methyl-treated plants to levels that did not induce a visible HR. Integrated use of acibenzolar-S-methyl and phages may complement each other as an alternative management strategy against bacterial spot on tomato.

The effects of organic pesticides on inner membrane permeability in Escherichia coli ML35

We have tested whether some pesticides might cause inner membrane leakage in ML35 Escherichia coli cells, which express beta-galactosidase (lacZ; EC 3.2.1.23) constitutively but lack the permease (lacY) required for substrate entry. The activity of beta-galactosidase (indicative of substrate leakage through the inner membrane) was increased by various concentrations of pesticides, including the organometallic fungicides maneb and mancozeb, the insecticide Thiodan, and the herbicide Ally, as well as by antibiotics such as ampicillin, gramicidin D, and the calcium ionophore A23187. The enzyme activity was increased by up to approximately 30% when the E. coli ML35 strain was exposed to various concentrations (between 50 and 250 ppm) of both fungicides. Thiodan had only a slight effect on beta-galactosidase activity (increase of 12.8%), whereas, among the antibiotics, the calcium ionophore at 20 microg/ml caused a significant increase in enzyme activity by up to 61.8%. This effect is similar to that of sodium dodecyl sulfate, used as positive control ( approximately 70% increase). Accumulation of maneb and mancozeb by bacterial cells was also studied taking advantage of their metal content and using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. In parallel with the increase in enzyme activity, both fungicides accumulated in the cells as a function of their concentration. Time course experiments (3, 6, and 9 h) of fungicide accumulation and of bacterial growth at various pesticide concentrations were also carried out. Maneb seems to inhibit the bacterial growth better than mancozeb. In addition, maneb uptake increases with time up to 9 h at all tested concentrations, whereas the accumulation of mancozeb is similar at all the exposure times tested. This indicates a different uptake and/or metabolizing strategy by E. coli cells for the two fungicides.

MRI cisternography with gadolinium-containing contrast medium: its role, advantages and limitations in the investigation of rhinorrhoea

Our purpose was to evaluate the utility of intrathecal gadopentetate dimeglumine -enhanced magnetic resonance cisternography (GdMRC). We injected 0.5 ml contrast medium into the subarachnoid space via lumbar puncture in 20 patients with suspected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhoea. MRC showed CSF leakage in 14 patients with rhinorrhoea at the time of the examination, into the ethmoid air cells in nine, the sphenoid sinus in three and the frontal sinus in two cases. In 12 of these the site leakage was confirmed during surgical repair of the fistula. No leakage was observed in four patients with intermittent rhinorrhoea, not present at the time of the examination. GdMRC showed leakage in two patients with negative CT cisternography. GdMRC may prove better than CT cisternography, especially with slow CSF flow. We also showed low-dose GdMRC to be a feasible and relative safe way of confirming the presence of and localising active CSF leaks prior to surgical repair.

Bis(triethanolamine)cadmium(II) and -mercury(II) saccharinates: seven-coordinate complexes containing both tri- and tetradentate triethanolamine ligands

The structures of the title triethanolamine (tea) complexes of Cd(II) and Hg(II) saccharinates, bis(triethanolamine)-kappa3O,N,O';kappa4O,N,O',O"-cadmium(II) 1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-onate 1,1-dioxide, [Cd(C6H15NO3)2](C7H4NO3S)2, (I), and bis(triethanolamine)-kappa3O,N,O';kappa4O,N,O',O"-mercury(II) 1,2-benzisothiazol-3(2H)-onate 1,1-dioxide, [Hg(C6H15NO3)2](C7H4NO3S)2, (II), or [M(tea)2](sac)2, where M is Cd(II) or Hg(II) and sac is the saccharinate anion, reveal seven-coordinate metal ions in both complexes. Both complex cations, [M(tea)2]2+, adopt a monocapped trigonal prism geometry in which the two tea ligands exhibit different coordination modes to achieve seven-coordination. One tea ligand acts as a tetradentate ligand using all its donor atoms, while the other behaves as a tridentate O,N,O'-donor ligand, with one of its ethanol groups remaining uncoordinated. The H atoms of the free and coordinated hydroxyl groups of the tea ligands are involved in hydrogen bonding with the amine N atom, and with the carbonyl and sulfonyl O atoms of neighbouring sac ions, forming an infinite three-dimensional network. A weak pi-pi interaction between the phenyl rings of the sac ions also occurs.

Toxicity of the dithiocarbamate fungicide mancozeb to the nontarget soil nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans

We have previously shown that the dithiocarbamate fungicide, Mancozeb, strongly induces lacZ reporter expression from an endogenous heat-shock promoter (hsp16) in the PC72 transgenic strain of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Such evidence of organismal stress, in a nontarget species at subapplication concentrations, was much less apparent for the related fungicide, Maneb, which only weakly induced reporter expression. We now show that reporter induction by Mancozeb is marginal (<60%) after a few hours' exposure, but increases substantially (to almost 10-fold) after overnight exposure. In conjunction with our previous results using intermediate exposure periods, this suggests that the factor limiting reporter responses is likely to be a slow rate of uptake and/or metabolism of the fungicide. We confirm that a potentially toxic metabolite of dithiocarbamate fungicides, namely ethylenethiourea (ETU), has minimal toxicity toward C. elegans, even after prolonged exposure at high concentrations. We demonstrate that exposure to Mancozeb (but not ETU) significantly inhibits larval growth in C. elegans, although this parameter is not markedly more sensitive than reporter induction as a toxicological endpoint. Finally, we have used two-dimensional electrophoresis to show that high concentrations of both Maneb and Mancozeb drastically simplify the protein spot profile compared with controls. However, only in the latter case is there evidence of novel proteins being induced. Both fungicides appear toxic to C. elegans, but only Mancozeb induces a strong heat-shock response.

The toxicity of dithiocarbamate fungicides to soil nematodes, assessed using a stress-inducible transgenic strain of Caenorhabditis elegans

The dithiocarbamate fungicides maneb and mancozeb induce a short-term stress response in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans strain (PC72) carrying a reporter lacZ gene under the control of a homologous heat shock (hsp16) promoter. This response can be readily monitored as induced beta-galactosidase activity, either by in situ staining or by a quantitative fluorometric enzyme assay. Particularly strong responses are induced by mancozeb (three- to fivefold above controls at 500 microg mL(-1)), causing acute toxicity at concentrations comparable to those recommended for field application (2 mg mL(-1)). Although much of this fungicide is adsorbed by soil, sufficient (ca. 6%) enters the soil water compartment to cause mild stress in the transgenic worm assay. Among possible metabolites from mancozeb breakdown, neither Mn2+ nor ethylenethiourea (ETU) is particularly toxic even at 10% of the optimum mancozeb dosage. Stress responses to a range of other pesticides are also reported, and in several cases it is clear that a nontarget soil species (here, transgenic C. elegans) may be sensitive to low-level contamination.

The accumulation and histological effects of organometallic fungicides propineb and maneb in the livers of pregnant rats and their offspring

Dithiocarbamate propineb and maneb are organometal fungicides, which are widely used for the control of diseases in plants. Female Wistar rats were exposed orally to 200 and 400 ppm propineb (Zn-containing dithiocarbamate) and 250 ppm maneb (Mn-containing dithiocarbamate), from the 6th day of gestation up to birth. We found that the body weights of both newborn litters and their fungicide-treated mothers were lower than those of controls. Histological examination of the livers of fungicide-treated pregnant females and the offspring showed a variety of histopathological effects. Moreover, the analysis of Zn and Mn concentrations in the livers of pregnant females exposed to organometallic fungicides during pregnancy demonstrated that the metal concentrations in the liver were higher than those of controls. Similarly, the hepatic metal concentrations were significantly increased in the litters, indicating the transplacental passage of the organometallic fungicides.

The accumulation and histological effects of organometallic fungicides Propineb and Maneb in the kidneys of fetus and female rats during pregnancy

Dithiocarbamate propineb and maneb are organometal fungicides, which are widely used for the control of diseases in plants. Female Wistar rats were exposed orally to 200 and 400 ppm propineb and 250 ppm maneb, from the sixth day of gestation up to birth. We found that the body weights of both one-day old litters and their fungicide-treated mothers were lower than those of controls. Histological examination of the kidneys of fetus and fungicide-treated pregnant females showed a variety of histopathological effects. Moreover, the analysis of zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) concentrations (using inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry) in the kidneys of pregnant females exposed to organometallic fungicides during pregnancy demonstrated that the metal concentrations in the kidney were higher than those of controls. However, the renal metal concentrations were significantly increased in the litters subjected to the fungicides during gestation, indicating that high levels of the trace metals in the organ of fetus may well be due to the fungicides easily passing the placental barrier.

Calcium moderation of cadmium stress explored using a stress-inducible transgenic strain of Caenorhabditis elegans

In a transgenic strain of Caenorhabditis elegans carrying a stress-inducible lacZ reporter gene, short-term sublethal exposure to heavy metals activates transgene expression. The transgene response to Cd2+ is strongly inhibited by Ca2+ ions; furthermore, Ca2+ reduces the net accumulation of Cd2+ by worms. Both Ca2+ and a variety of calcium uptake inhibitors (nifedipine, La3+, verapamil) depress the dose response of the transgene to Cd2+. Calcium ionophore (A23187) slightly increases transgene activity in control and Cd2+ treated worms, but has a much larger effect in the case of Mn2+, reflecting its much greater affinity for this ion.