Health Research: Multiplying teeth, literally ♦ Could peroxisomes be key to stopping West Nile and Dengue viruses? ♦ New generation of synthetic bone grafts created

Multiplying teeth, literally Researchers have found a way to--literally--multiply teeth. In mice, they were able to extract teeth germs--groups of cells formed early in life that later develop into teeth, split them into two, and then implant the teeth into the mice's jaws, where they developed into two fully functional teeth.

Mental health status prior to bladder cancer surgery can indicate risk of complications A patient's mental health prior to surgery can influence postoperative outcomes. Removal of the bladder, or radical cystectomy  is an effective treatment for locally advanced bladder cancer, but complications occur in as many as 66% of patients Researchers found that patients whose self-assessment of mental health was low suffered more high grade complications in the 30 days following surgery than patients with higher self-assessments

Could peroxisomes be key to stopping West Nile and Dengue viruses? A new discovery could open the door to one day treat or prevent diseases caused by West Nile virus and Dengue virus infections. Together the viruses are the cause of tens of millions of infections each year. Currently there are no treatments or vaccines available.

New generation of synthetic bone grafts created A new type of synthetic bone graft has been developed, which boosts the body's own ability to regenerate bone tissue and could produce better outcomes for patients. The research found that the new type of graft called Inductigraft was able to guide bone tissue regeneration in as little as four weeks.

Health Research: Smokers at higher risk of losing their teeth ♦ Long sleep and high blood copper levels go hand in hand ♦ Social factors may impact young leukemia patients' survival

Low vitamin D among elderly associated with decline in cognition, dementia Vitamin D insufficiency among the elderly is highly correlated with accelerated cognitive decline and impaired performance, particularly in domains such as memory loss that are associated with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, researchers have found.

Smokers at higher risk of losing their teeth, Regular smokers have a significantly increased risk of tooth loss, a new study has confirmed. Male smokers are up to 3.6 times more likely to lose their teeth than non-smokers, whereas female smokers were found to be 2.5 times more likely.

Long sleep and high blood copper levels go hand in hand People who sleep fewer than 6 hours or more than 10 hours per night suffer from low-grade inflammation more often than people who sleep 7-8 hours per night. Earlier studies have found a relation between reduced sleep and low-grade inflammation, according to one of the study researchers. Furthermore, low-grade inflammation occurs in overweight, depression and diabetes. This new study is the first to analyze the association between sleep duration and serum micronutrient concentrations in a large sample, and it found a link between high serum copper concentration and long sleep duration.

Social factors may impact young leukemia patients' survival A new study reveals that insurance status, marital status, and county-level income may affect the chances of survival in young patients with acute myelogenous leukemia

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Children's Health: Using humor to help toddlers learn ♦ Local anesthetic may affect the development of children's teeth, ♦ Tooth brushing and fluoride benefit kids

Supervised tooth brushing and fluoride varnish schemes benefit kids and the health economy Action to prevent tooth decay in children, such as supervised tooth brushing and fluoride varnish schemes, are not just beneficial to children's oral health but could also result in cost savings for public health systems.

Current school start times damaging learning and health of students Scientists have found that current school and university start times are damaging the learning and health of students. Drawing on the latest sleep research, the authors conclude students start times should be 8:30 or later at age 10; 10:00 or later at 16; and 11:00 or later at 18. Implementing these start times should protect students from short sleep duration and chronic sleep deprivation, which are linked to poor learning and health problems.

Using humor to help toddlers learn We all know that laughter is the best medicine, but a team of French scientists has discovered that using humor also appears to help toddlers learn new tasks.

Local anesthetic may affect the development of children's teeth, For the first time, a study indicates that the use of local anesthetic may affect tooth cell growth and the development of children's teeth. The study comes at a time when more children than ever before are subjected to dental surgery -- and local anaesthetic -- because of tooth decay or the other orthodontic conditions.

Health News:FDA doesn’t care about mouse poop in your food ♦ All change for bacterial outer membrane proteins ♦ Strong teeth: Nano structures under stress make teeth crack resistant

FDA doesn’t care about mouse poop in your food Many eaters likely want to avoid insect parts, rodent feces or fly eggs in their meal. But according the Food and Drug Administration, that’s just not possible. The agency’s “Defect Level Handbook” provides guidelines for food processors on the levels of “natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazard for humans.” If you’re thinking of a defect as something

New drug can clear all psoriasis symptoms A new psoriasis drug has resulted in 40 percent of people showing a complete clearance of psoriatic plaques after 12 weeks of treatment and over 90 percent showing improvement.

All change for bacterial outer membrane proteins The discovery of how a group of bacteria rapidly adapts to changing growth conditions could have implications for future antibiotic development, according to research

Europe's most homophobic countries may be paving the way for a rise in HIV cases Europe's most homophobic countries may be paving the way for a rise in HIV cases among gay and bisexual men, according to new research. The investigators found that in these countries, gay men knew less about HIV, were less likely to use condoms and are at greater potential risk of getting HIV when they do have sex.

Strong teeth: Nanostructures under stress make teeth crack resistant Human teeth have to serve for a lifetime, despite being subjected to huge forces. But the high failure resistance of dentin in teeth is not fully understood. An interdisciplinary team of scientists has now analyzed the complex structure of dentin. They could reveal that the mineral particles are precompressed

Laser Therapy Prompts Regeneration in Teeth

A small dose of low-power laser light activated dental stem cells in rat molars to generate dentin, one of the major components of teeth. The finding may lead to new approaches to develop low-cost, non-invasive therapies for treating dental disease and tooth damage.

Twelve weeks after the low-power laser treatment, more newly formed dentin, marked by yellow hashtags (#), can be seen in the laser-treated teeth (bottom) than in the controls (top). Credit: Harvard's Wyss Institute and SEAS.

Dentists currently use inert materials to repair damaged teeth. Tissue regeneration would be an attractive alternative, because inert materials can fail with time and don’t provide the full function of the tissue. Stimulating regeneration of teeth, however, is a major challenge. Teeth are composed of several parts, including the pulp at the core, dentin in the middle, and enamel on the surface.

Stem cells, found throughout the body, can give rise to specialized cells. Researchers have been able to coax stem cells to transform (differentiate) into many types of cells in the laboratory before infusing them into the body. But these techniques are time consuming and can bring unwanted side effects.

Low-power laser (LPL) therapy has been used to treat inflammation and pain, and to stimulate wound healing, skin rejuvenation, and hair growth. LPL treatment has been noted to promote regeneration in cardiac, lung, and nerve tissues. These regenerative effects may be mediated through stem cells, but a direct link between laser treatment and stem cell biology hadn’t been clearly demonstrated.

A research team led by Dr. Praveen Arany of NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and Dr. David Mooney at Harvard University set out to investigate whether LPL can induce stem cells to regenerate components in teeth. The work was funded in part by NIDCR and other NIH components. Results appeared on May 28, 2014, in Science Translational Medicine.

The scientists first studied rats that had cavities in 2 molars, each with exposed tooth pulp (the soft inner part of the tooth). One tooth was treated with LPL, and the other wasn’t. Both damaged sites were then filled. The researchers found that dentin was induced in the LPL-treated molar after 12 weeks.

The team used laboratory cell lines to investigate how LPL induced dentin. They found that LPL treatment generated a type of molecule known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS stimulated dentin production by activating transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), a signaling protein that can promote dental stem cell differentiation.

The researchers also showed that LPL induced adult human dental stem cells to form dentin in the laboratory. Taken together, these results suggest that LPL might be used to direct stem cells in human teeth to regenerate dentin. Effective surgical techniques and optical focusing approaches would first need to be developed for the use of this treatment in people, however.

“Our treatment modality does not introduce anything new to the body, and lasers are routinely used in medicine and dentistry, so the barriers to clinical translation are low,” Mooney says. “It would be a substantial advance in the field if we can regenerate teeth rather than replace them.”

A small dose of low-power laser light activated dental stem cells in rat molars to generate dentin, one of the major components of teeth. The finding may lead to new approaches to develop low-cost, non-invasive therapies for treating dental disease and tooth damage.

Twelve weeks after the low-power laser treatment, more newly formed dentin, marked by yellow hashtags (#), can be seen in the laser-treated teeth (bottom) than in the controls (top). Credit: Harvard's Wyss Institute and SEAS.

Dentists currently use inert materials to repair damaged teeth. Tissue regeneration would be an attractive alternative, because inert materials can fail with time and don’t provide the full function of the tissue. Stimulating regeneration of teeth, however, is a major challenge. Teeth are composed of several parts, including the pulp at the core, dentin in the middle, and enamel on the surface.

Stem cells, found throughout the body, can give rise to specialized cells. Researchers have been able to coax stem cells to transform (differentiate) into many types of cells in the laboratory before infusing them into the body. But these techniques are time consuming and can bring unwanted side effects.

Low-power laser (LPL) therapy has been used to treat inflammation and pain, and to stimulate wound healing, skin rejuvenation, and hair growth. LPL treatment has been noted to promote regeneration in cardiac, lung, and nerve tissues. These regenerative effects may be mediated through stem cells, but a direct link between laser treatment and stem cell biology hadn’t been clearly demonstrated.

A research team led by Dr. Praveen Arany of NIH’s National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) and Dr. David Mooney at Harvard University set out to investigate whether LPL can induce stem cells to regenerate components in teeth. The work was funded in part by NIDCR and other NIH components. Results appeared on May 28, 2014, in Science Translational Medicine.

The scientists first studied rats that had cavities in 2 molars, each with exposed tooth pulp (the soft inner part of the tooth). One tooth was treated with LPL, and the other wasn’t. Both damaged sites were then filled. The researchers found that dentin was induced in the LPL-treated molar after 12 weeks.

The team used laboratory cell lines to investigate how LPL induced dentin. They found that LPL treatment generated a type of molecule known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS stimulated dentin production by activating transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), a signaling protein that can promote dental stem cell differentiation.

The researchers also showed that LPL induced adult human dental stem cells to form dentin in the laboratory. Taken together, these results suggest that LPL might be used to direct stem cells in human teeth to regenerate dentin. Effective surgical techniques and optical focusing approaches would first need to be developed for the use of this treatment in people, however.

“Our treatment modality does not introduce anything new to the body, and lasers are routinely used in medicine and dentistry, so the barriers to clinical translation are low,” Mooney says. “It would be a substantial advance in the field if we can regenerate teeth rather than replace them.”