jahanfar jahanbani

Considering the global prevalence of cancers and the complications of common cancer treatments, there is growing interest in using medicinal herbs to complement cancer treatments and reduce treatment’s side effects. Therefore, we investigate the effect of the extract of Nasturtium on the viability of oral cancer cells.

In this experimental study, we prepared aqueous extract from Nasturtium leaves and human oral cancer cells(OCC‑24) and normal fibroblast cells (HF2FF cell line) from a cell bank. Then the toxic effect of different concentrations of the extract on cell viability after 24–48 hours of exposure was investigated with the methylthiazol tetrazolium assay. Ultimately, the optical density was measured at 570 nm by an Elisa Reader. Analysis of inhibitory concentration 50 (IC50) was also performed. The data were analyzed by paired Student’s t‑test and one‑way analysis of variance.

Data showed that the extract had statistically significant anticancer effects in concentrations above 0.125 mg/ml for 24‑hour exposure and in concentrations above 0.5 mg/ml for 48‑hour exposure (p‑value <0.05). Also, this extract had an adverse effect on the viability of normal cells; however, this effect occurred in high doses of the extract (p‑value <0.05). Analysis of IC50 criteria indicates that with increasing time, a higher concentration of the extract is required to inhibit the viability of cancer cells.

Because of the results, this aqueous extract can be suggested as a potential therapeutic agent in oral cancer. The best concentration of the extract was found to be 1 mg/ml.

Bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (BRONJ) is a well-known challenging entity warranting management. Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) plays an important role in bone biology by enhancing bone repair and regeneration.

The aim of this animal study was to evaluate the effects of PRP on zoledronic acid-induced BRONJ.

Seven rats were given 0.04 mg Zoledronic acid intravenously once a week for five weeks. Two weeks later, the animals underwent extraction of their first lower molars, bilaterally. After clinical confirmation of the osteonecrosis, PRP was injected randomly into one of the extraction sockets of each rat. Three weeks later, all rats were sacrificed in order to obtain histological sections. The analysis of epithelialization was performed by McNamar’s test, and the analysis of osteogenesis and angiogenesis was performed by the Wilcoxon Sign Rank test. P value was set at 0.05.

We found no significant differences between the two groups regarding the amount of epithelialization, angiogenesis or sequestrum formation (P > 0.05), but a significant difference was seen between the two groups regarding the amount of existing vital bone (P < 0.05).

Our study demonstrates positive results (preservation or regeneration of bone) using PRP in treatment of BRONJ. Although PRP may enhance osseous regeneration, long-term follow-ups are required to confirm its benefits.

There are relatively few systematic studies, documenting the prevalence of mucosal disorders in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral lesions in 12- to 15-year olds living in Tehran and to assess the possible relationship between the occurrence of these lesions and gender. A cross-sectional study was designed in which 1020 adolescents were participated. The sample size was based upon an expected oral lesion prevalence of 25%, a precision of 0.05 and a confidence level of 99. Epi-info version 6.0 was used for statistical analysis. Two hundred eighty-six adolescents (28.0%) were diagnosed with at least one oral mucosal lesion at the time of the examination. The prevalence of any oral mucosal lesion was 29.2% among the boys and 26.9% among the girls. With the exception of melanotic macules, there were no statistically significant differences in oral mucosal lesion prevalence by gender. More than 28% of the adolescents were found to have at least one oral mucosal lesion. Melanotic macule was found to be proportionally more common in boys than girls.