Ab Rani Samsudin

Facial profile shape, malocclusion and palatal morphology in Malay obstructive sleep apnea patients.

OBJECTIVE To test the null hypothesis that there is no difference in facial profile shape, malocclusion class, or palatal morphology in Malay adults with and without obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). MATERIALS AND METHODS Subjects were 120 adult Malays aged 18 to 65 years (mean +/- standard deviation [SD], 33.2 +/- 13.31) divided into two groups of 60. Both groups underwent clinical examination and limited channel polysomnography (PSG). The mean OSA and control values were subjected to t-test and the chi square test. RESULTS Physical examination showed that 61.7% of the OSA patients were obese, and 41.7% of those obese patients had severe OSA. The mean body mass index (BMI) was significantly greater for the OSA group (33.2 kg/m2 +/- 6.5) than for the control group (22.7 kg/m2 +/- 3.5; P < .001). The mean neck size and systolic blood pressure were greater for the OSA group (43.6 cm +/- 6.02; 129.1 mm Hg +/- 17.55) than for the control group (35.6 cm +/- 3.52; 114.1 mm Hg +/- 13.67; P < .001). Clinical examination showed that the most frequent findings among OSA groups when compared with the control group were convex profiles (71.7%), Class II malocclusion (51.7%), and V palatal shape (53.3%), respectively; the chi square test revealed a significant difference in terms of facial profile and malocclusion class (P < .05), but no significant difference in palatal shape was found. CONCLUSION The null hypothesis is rejected. A convex facial profile and Class II malocclusion were significantly more common in the OSA group. The V palatal shape was a frequent finding in the OSA group.

Transforming Growth Factor-α and Nonsyndromic Cleft Lip With or Without Palate or Cleft Palate Only in Kelantan, Malaysia

Objective: To determine the frequency of the transforming growth factor-alpha (TGFα) Taq1 polymorphism in nonsyndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL±P) and cleft palate only (CP) in Kelantan, Malaysia. Setting: The study was conducted at the Combined Cleft Clinic and at the Human Genome Centre in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia in Kelantan, Malaysia. Design: We examined the C2/Taq1 variant of the TGFα gene in 46 patients with nonsyndromic CL±P or CP only and in 33 controls. The TGFα genotype frequencies in patients were compared with those in controls using the chi-square or Fisher exact test. DNA samples were obtained from peripheral blood. Results: No association was found between TGFαTaq1 polymorphism and CL±P or CP in this case-control study. In addition, no homozygosity for the rare allele C2 was noted in CL±P, CP, or the controls. Conclusion: No evidence of TGFαTaq1 polymorphism was observed in association with CL±P and CP in this study.

Coordinate Systems Integration for Development of Malaysian Craniofacial Database

This study presents a data registration method for craniofacial spatial data of different modalities. The data consists of three dimensional (3D) vector and raster data models. The data is stored in object relational database. The data capture devices are laser scanner, CT (computed tomography) scan and CR (close range) photogrammetry. The objective of the registration is to transform the data from various coordinate systems into a single 3-D Cartesian coordinate system. The standard error of the registration obtained from multimodal imaging devices using 3D affine transformation is in the ranged of 1-2 mm. This study is a step forward for storing the spatial craniofacial data in one reference system in database

Bone Texture Fractal Dimension Analysis of Ultrasound-Treated Bone around Implant Site: A Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of bone texture fractal dimension (FD) analysis method in predicting implant stability from intraoral periapical radiographs using two implant protocols. Materials and Methods A double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 22 subjects who needed dental implants. The participants were randomized into two groups, the control group with standard implant protocol treatment and the intervention group with added low-intensity power ultrasound treatment (LIPUS) besides the standard implant protocol. The FD values of bone density were carried out on the mesial and distal sides of the implant on digital intraoral radiographs using the box-counting method. Both resonance frequency (RF) and fractal dimension (FD) were assessed in three time intervals: after surgery and before and after loading. Results FD on both the mesial and distal sides serve as very good-to-excellent tests with high validity (ROC area exceeding 0.8) in predicting high implant stability (ISQ ≥ 70). The mesial side measurements were consistently better than the distal side among the intervention groups. The optimum cutoff value for the FD-mesial side that predicts a highly stable implant (ISQ ≥ 70) is ≥1.505. At this optimum cutoff value, the mesial side FD is associated with a perfect sensitivity (100%) and fairly high specificity (86.5%). Conclusion The FD analysis could be recommended as an adjunctive quantitative method in prediction of the implant stability with very high sensitivity and specificity. This trial is registered with ISRCTN72648040.

Effect of Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Treated with Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor on Osteogenesis and Angiogenesis Gene Expression In Vitro

Biodegradable biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) scaffold holds tremendous potential for bone tissue engineering. It elicits response from cells such as endothelial cells (ECs) that are similar to those elicited by bone. ECs promote bone regeneration by stimulating both neovascularisation and osteogenesis. For an effective coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is required. The aim of this work is to study the effectiveness of VEGF-added-BCP on the expression of osteogenesis and angiogenesis genes in ECs. Commercially obtained rat aortic ECs were cultured in the endothelial-cell growth medium. The cells were treated with three different modalities: BCP- only, VEGF- only, and VEGF-added-BCP. The optimal BCP and VEGF concentrations were determined. The cells were harvested at four different time intervals (day 3, day 7, day 10 and day 14) and were subjected to RNA isolation using RNA extraction kit (analytikjena, Germany). This was followed by performing reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) (Qiagen, Germany) to amplify the osteogenesis and angiogenesis-regulated genes. The RT-PCR products were then electrophoresed. The gel image was captured using Image Analyser. Suitable concentration of BCP was 10mg/ml while optimal VEGF was 15ng/ml. Angiogenesis and osteogenesis genes were clearly expressed in ECs in response to treatments. Angiogenesis gene (VEGF) was highly expressed by VEGFonly treatment but showed some changes with added BCP. Osteogenesis genes (BMP-2, ALP, OC and OPN) were shown to be positively affected by both BCP and VEGF. Some genes were expressed at an earlier time interval compared to the other genes depending on the type of treatments. BCP-only treatment induced high expression of early regulating osteogenesis genes (BMP-2 and OPN). Mineralized gene markers (ALP and OC) were however, highly expressed with VEGF-added-BCP treatment. Combination of BCP and VEGF modality on ECs was suggested to initiate osteogenesis and angiogenesis related gene expressions earlier than the other modalities.