OBJECTIVE To correlate serum anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP) levels with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) subtypes and with an erosive disease course. METHODS The study group comprised 122 children with JIA; 16 were evaluated during both active disease and remission. Nineteen children with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 27 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 15...

BACKGROUND Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a nuclear protein synthesized in the late G1 and S-phase of the cell cycle. Immunodetection of this protein represents a useful marker of the proliferation status of lesions. AIMS The aim of this study is to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of PCNA in oral lichen planus (OLP) and to assess the PCNA expression in a different la...

BACKGROUND Higher body mass index (BMI) is a recognised risk factor for gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Data regarding the impact of BMI on proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy are conflicting. AIM To assess the impact of BMI on baseline heartburn symptom severity and frequency and response to PPI therapy in patients with non-erosive GERD (NERD) or erosive oesophagitis (EO). METHOD...

BACKGROUND The aim of the present study was to test the impact of different toothpastes with Zinc-Hydroxyapatite (Zn-HAP) on preventing and repairing enamel erosion compared to toothpastes with and without fluoride. MATERIAL AND METHODS The following four toothpastes were tested: two toothpastes with Zn-HAP, one toothpaste with fluoride and one toothpaste without fluoride. An additional contr...

In the absence of visible mucosal damage, it is hypothesized that the esophageal mucosal barrier is functionally impaired in patients with non-erosive reflux disease (NERD). The aim of the present study was to perform an exploratory analysis of the mucosal barrier in NERD compared to erosive esophagitis (EE) and controls. A second aim was to explore TRPV1 gene transcription in relation to the m...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to verify whether stratified epithelium-specific antinuclear antibodies are present in the sera of patients with erosive oral lichen planus and cutaneous lichen planus. METHODS We studied the pre-immune and immune serum of a rabbit immunized with a peptide corresponding to the N-terminus of the 70-kDa antigen chronic ulcerative stomatitis protein; sera from ...

The aim of the study was to evaluate the relevance of cations in different fluoride compounds for their effectiveness as anti-erosive agents. Human enamel samples underwent a de- and re-mineralisation procedure for 10 days. Erosive demineralisation was performed with 0.05 M citric acid (pH 2.3) 6 x 2 min daily followed by immersion in the test solution 6 x 2 min each. Test solutions were: SnCl2...

Context Eroded dentin might present the opening of dentinal tubules, increasing permeability, and consequently dentinal hypersensitivity. Aims This study evaluated the permeability of dentin surfaces exposed to different levels of erosion and methods of surface protection. Materials and Methods Dentine samples (3 mm × 3 mm × 1 mm) were prepared from bovine incisors (n = 90) and divided into...