OBJECTIVETo observe osteoblast apoptosis in diabetic periodontitis.

METHODSSixty-two SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: Diabetic periodontitis group (DP), periodontitis group (P) and normal control group (N). Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ). Periodontitis was initiated by ligating floss around maxillary second molars and inoculation of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis). Three or six weeks later, the animals were sacrificed and the specimens were prepared for histological analysis. The percentage of apoptotic osteoblasts was examined. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA.

RESULTSThe sequence of percentage of apoptotic osteoblasts among each group was group DP > group P > group N. Intergroup comparisons demonstrated that diabetic periodontitis and periodontitis might increase apoptosis of osteoblasts. The percentage of apoptotic osteoblasts in group DP was approximately two times higher than that in group P.

CONCLUSIONThe present study clearly demonstrates that diabetes can increase the apoptosis of osteoblasts in periodontitis.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental ; Osteoblasts ; Periodontitis ; Porphyromonas gingivalis ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Streptozocin

OBJECTIVETo identify predictive markers of the long-term outcome for neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NC) in locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) treated with intravenous vinorelbine (V) and epirubicin (E) combination regimen.

METHODSOne hundred and nineteen patients with LABC were treated from September 2001 to May 2006. All patients were diagnosed as invasive breast cancer by 14G core needle biopsy and treated with three cycles of VE regimen before the operation. The patients were subjected to surgery and subsequently were given other three cycles of VE or cyclophosphamide+epirubicin+fluorouracil (CEF) regimen according to the clinical responses. Local-regional radiotherapy was applied to all patients after the chemotherapy and followed by hormone-therapy according to hormone receptor status. The impact of clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical features on disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated.

RESULTSAll patients were evaluable for responses: clinical complete response was documented in 27 patients (22.7%), 78 patients (65.5%) obtained partial clinical response. The pathological complete response was found in 22 cases (18.5%). Of the patients, 115 cases (96.6%) were followed-up for a median time of 63.4 months (range, 9-76 months), the 5-year DFS rate and OS rate was 58.7% and 71.3%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, high pre-Ki-67 (P=0.012) and post-Ki-67 expression (P=0.045), no pathological complete response after NC (P=0.034) were associated with the higher risk of disease relapse; high pre-Ki-67 (P=0.017) and post-Ki-67 expression (P=0.001), negative pre-ER (P=0.002) and no pathological complete response after NC (P=0.034) were associated with a shorter survival.

CONCLUSIONPathological response in primary tumor, pre-Ki-67 and post-Ki-67 expression, pre-ER expression are important predictors of long-term outcome for LABC patients with three cycles of VE regimen before operation.

Adult ; Aged ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; pathology ; surgery ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Epirubicin ; administration & dosage ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; Treatment Outcome ; Vinblastine ; administration & dosage ; analogs & derivatives