UNASSIGNED: Calcium silicate cement like mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) and Biodentine are known for their biocompatibility and are effectively used as retrograde filling materials. During their placement, the materials interact with oral tissue fluids like saliva and blood, so the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of distilled water, saline, and blood on the surface microstructure and compressive strength of MTA and Biodentine.
UNASSIGNED: In this experimental study, a total of 84 custom-made cylindrical molds were randomly allocated into two main cement groups (n = 42) MTA and Biodentine. Each group was further subdivided into three subgroups (n = 14) as per the testing conditions, that is, samples exposed to distilled water, saline, and fresh blood. Around 10 samples from each subgroup were tested for compressive strength using a universal testing machine (UTM), and the remaining four samples were used to examine the surface characteristics of MTA and Biodentine using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey\'s post hoc tests were employed to calculate the mean compressive strength and standard deviation values.
UNASSIGNED: There was a significant difference in the compressive strength between MTA and Biodentine, especially in the presence of blood. During the SEM analysis, it was found that samples contaminated with blood or saline were devoid of acicular crystals in both groups. MTA group showed a more porous matrix with few hexagonal crystals than Biodentine.
UNASSIGNED: Biodentine may be advantageous as a root-end filling or root repair material in the presence of blood.
UNASSIGNED: Bhullar KK, Gupta V, Sapra M, et al. Evaluation of Surface Microstructure and Compressive Strength of Mineral Trioxide Aggregate and Biodentine in the Existence and Absence of Oral Tissue Fluids. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2024;17(S-1):S1-S5.

OBJECTIVE: This study compared the effectiveness of various cleaning approaches, including spray rinsing, repreparing with diamond burs, and using phosphoric acid or sodium hypochlorite alone or with polyphenols (resveratrol or myricetin), in removing blood contamination from the dentine after adhesive light-curing.
METHODS: The contact angles of the treated surfaces were measured and scanning electron microscopy/ energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy observation was performed. The bond strength and nanoleakage were assessed, and in situ zymography was performed before and after aging. Interactions between matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 and polyphenols were evaluated using molecular dynamics and rhMMP-9 inhibition analyses. The destruction of sodium hypochlorite on collagen and the resistance of polyphenols-treated dentine collagen to enzymolysis were evaluated using the hydroxyproline (HYP) assay. The effect of polyphenols on dentine collagen crosslinking was assessed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy.
RESULTS: The repreparation group had the lowest contact angle compared to the other groups. The spray rinsing group had the lowest bond strength and highest amounts of nanoleakage. Cleaning with phosphoric acid or sodium hypochlorite alone removed the blood contaminants and parts of the adhesive; moreover, applying polyphenols further improved the bond strength and decreased nanoleakage and MMP activity after aging. Both polyphenols inhibited rhMMP-9 activity and promoted collagen crosslinking. Sodium hypochlorite showed the maximum HYP release when used alone, which was decreased after adding polyphenols.
CONCLUSIONS: Phosphoric acid or sodium hypochlorite cleaning can remove blood contamination from the dentine surface after adhesive curing, and the addition of polyphenols can improve the durability of dentine bonding.

UNASSIGNED: There are many difficulties in diagnosing and treating Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteremia. In this study, we aimed to evaluate \"true\" and \"false-positive bacteremia\" and assess mortality risk factors and the impact of different treatment regimens.
UNASSIGNED: Hospitalized adult patients with S. maltophilia-positive blood cultures were assessed by a two-stage analysis. First, the clinical significance of blood cultures was assessed, and patients were divided into \"true\" and \"false-positive bacteremia\" groups. Then, excluding false positives, we analyzed the antimicrobial regimens and the factors associated with 28-day mortality in true bacteremia cases performing univariate and multivariate analyses.
UNASSIGNED: The study included 127 out of 138 patients with S. maltophilia bacteremia. True bacteremia was identified in 51.2% and false-positive bacteremia in 48.8% of patients. In the true bacteremia group, hypotension, nosocomial bacteremia, concomitant infections, a source of bacteremia, two positive blood culture sets, and 28-day mortality were more common. The 28-day mortality was 50.7% among true bacteremia cases. In multivariate analysis, age and solid tumor were the independent predictors of 28-day mortality. Early effective antimicrobial therapy and different antimicrobial regimens, including trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SXT), fluoroquinolones (FQs), and tigecycline (TGC), did not have any significant impact on survival.
UNASSIGNED: Patients with S. maltophilia bacteremia should first be assessed regarding clinical significance. Clinical findings, the presence of multiple positive blood culture sets and the primary sources of bacteremia are useful parameters while discriminating true from false-positive bacteremia. Patients with advanced age and solid tumors should be followed carefully in terms of mortality. Antimicrobial regimens, including SXT, FQs, or TGC, can be preferred in patients with S. maltophilia bacteremia considering antimicrobial resistance and adverse effects or toxicity.

Introduction Oral surgeons often encounter a significant occupational risk of exposure to potentially harmful infectious diseases during minor oral surgical procedures. These diseases can be transmitted through direct contact with body fluids and aerosolized splatters that may not be visibly detectable. The likelihood of transmission is heightened for clinicians, healthcare workers, and patients alike. The reported prevalence of exposure to blood-borne infections in this field is as high as 90%, with half of these exposures being visually imperceptible. Aim The aim was to detect visually imperceptible blood contamination on personal protective equipment (PPE) and clinical surfaces using the chemiluminescence agent luminol during oral surgical procedures. Materials and methods Thirty minor oral surgical procedures were performed in the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department after obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), Vinayaka Mission\'s Sankarachariyar Dental College, Vinayaka Mission\'s Research Foundation, Salem, India. The surgeon, assistant, patient, and clinical surfaces (comprising 15 subsites within the surgical field) wore PPE. The PPE was scrutinized for traces of visually imperceptible blood contamination using luminol. The results of blood splatter on PPE and clinical surfaces in different oral surgical procedures between the non-aerosol and aerosol groups of different durations were analyzed statistically using the chi-square test with p < 0.05 considered significant. Results We observed that visually imperceptible blood contamination in non-aerosol procedures was detected on the assistant PPE kit (46.7%, n = 14), assistant face shield (40%, n = 12), suction apparatus (50%, n = 15), wall (30%, n = 9), and floor (56.7%, n = 17), in both aerosol and non-aerosol procedures. The p-value has been considered statistically significant at p < 0.05 between both the groups (aerosol and non-aerosol). Conclusion Our study results confirmed the presence of undetected blood spillage during aerosol procedures of 30 minutes and non-aerosol surgical procedures of more than 30 minutes over an area of 3.1 feet horizontally and 4.8 feet vertically. So, we strongly emphasize that PPE kits and face shields are mandatory for both surgeon and assistant while performing oral surgical procedures in order to prevent the risk of cross infections, proper infection prevention control protocol for the clinical surfaces also needs to be followed as a standard protocol in all operations.

UNASSIGNED: Cavity preparation often causes gingival bleeding which can be controlled by hemostatic agents (HAs). These along with blood act as contaminants and hamper the bonding mechanism. Collagen cross-linkers (CCLs) are agents known to increase the bond strength (BS) to dentin. Hence, the purpose of this in vitro study was to determine the effect of two different CCLs, proanthocyanidin (grape seed extract [GSE]) and hesperidin on the microtensile BS (μTBS) of a self-etch adhesive (SEA) system to dentin which was contaminated with blood and a HA.
UNASSIGNED: Thirty-six extracted human molars were collected, and their occlusal surfaces were sectioned to expose the dentin. The teeth were randomly divided into four groups: Group I - Control, Group II - Contamination with blood and HA, Group III - Application of GSE after contamination, and Group IV - Application of hesperidin extract after contamination. The SEA was applied, followed by the use of a nanocomposite. Dentin-composite rods were obtained from each group, and μTBS testing was done. The fracture pattern was visually classified as an adhesive failure at the interface, cohesive failure in composite, or dentin. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis was done for two samples from each group. Statistical analysis was done using the Student\'s unpaired \"t\" and ANOVA test.
UNASSIGNED: Group II showed a statistically significant reduction in μTBS in comparison to Group I. This was overcome in Groups III and IV. Hesperidin showed marginally better results than GSE.
UNASSIGNED: The use of GSE and hesperidin increases the μTBS of composite resin to dentin postcontamination with blood and ViscoStat Clear with Single Bond Universal Adhesive.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer´s disease is considered a neurodegenerative disease and is diagnosed by exclusion, while the detection of specific cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, namely amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides Aβ1-42 (Aß42), phospho-tau (181P; P-tau), and total-tau (T-tau), has been shown to improve diagnostic accuracy. Recently, a new generation of sample tubes (Sarstedt false-bottom tubes) for the Elecsys CSF immunoassay for the determination of Alzheimer´s disease biomarkers in CSF was introduced, promising better measurability. However, the pre-analytic influencing factors have not yet been sufficiently investigated.
METHODS: In 29 patients without Alzheimer\'s disease diagnosis, CSF concentrations of Aß42, P-tau and T-tau were examined in native CSF and after different influencing interventions using the Elecsys immunoassay test method. The following influencing factors were analyzed: contamination with blood (10,000 and 20,000 erythrocytes/µl CSF), 14-day storage at 4 °C, blood contamination of CSF and 14-day storage at 4 °C, 14-day freezing at -80 °C in Sarstedt tubes or glass vials, 3-month intermediate storage at -80 °C in glass vials.
RESULTS: Both storage at -80 °C for 14 days in Sarstedt false-bottom tubes and in glass vials and storage at -80 °C for 3 months in glass vials resulted in significant decreases in Aß42 (13% after 14 days in Sarstedt and 22% in glass vials, 42% after 3 months in glass vials), P-tau (9% after 14 days in Sarstedt and 13% in glass vials, 12% after 3 months in glass vials) and T-tau (12% after 14 days in Sarstedt and 19% in glass vials, 20% after 3 months in glass vials) concentrations in CSF. No significant differences were found for the other pre-analytical influencing factors.
CONCLUSIONS: Measurements of the concentrations of Aß42, P-tau, and T-tau in CSF with use of the Elecsys immunoassay are robust to the pre-analytical influencing factors of blood contamination and duration of storage. Freezing at -80 °C results in significant reduction of biomarker concentrations regardless of the storage tube and must be considered in retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Health care workers handling antineoplastic drugs (ADs) are at risk of mutagenicity and adverse reproductive effects. Despite protective equipment and AD handling guidelines, AD levels are still detected in caregivers in oncology units. This study attempted to assess blood contamination by irinotecan and its metabolites in all health care workers in oncology day hospital units according to activities specific to each employment category.
METHODS: The study was performed at two different hospitals: a university hospital and a comprehensive cancer centre. Forty-four participants were categorized according to their daily activity as a high-risk operator (29 nurses/ward aides and 5 cleaning staff) and a low-risk operator (7 doctors and 3 secretaries). The collected blood samples were subjected to UHPLC-MS/MS. The plasma and red blood cell (RBC) levels of irinotecan and its metabolites (SN-38; APC) were determined using a validated analytical method detection test.
RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-four assay results were collected (132 plasma results and 132 RBC results). The comparison between low- and high-risk operator-contaminated workers was not significant (18.33% positive results in low-risk operators vs. 25.98% positive results in high-risk operators; P = 0.22). This homogeneity showed overall contamination within the unit. Positive results were obtained in 21.43% of physicians, 11.11% of secretaries, 25.86% of nurses/ward aides and 26.67% of cleaning staff. These results could be explained by the lack or failure of personal and collective protective equipment. A lack of protection and inadequate decontamination procedures can result in surface contamination.
CONCLUSIONS: This study evaluated blood contamination with irinotecan and its metabolites in health care workers from day hospital care units. Among the 24.24% of contaminations observed in care units, the difference between low- and high-risk operator contamination was not significant (P = 0.22). The impact on blood contamination found is the same between low- and high-risk caregivers. This implies that the protective precautions associated with the handling of anticancer drugs must therefore be followed by all staff, including those believed to be at low risk of exposure.

The push-out bond strength (POBS) of calcium silicate-based cements (CSCs) to the dentinal wall is considered one of the essential physical properties for clinical success. The presence of blood in the treatment area affects the POBS of these types of cement. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of blood contamination on the bond strength of CSCs and dentinal walls.
This systematic review was performed by searching electronic databases (MEDLINE-PubMed, Scopus, and EMBASE) to include relevant in vitro studies published between 1992 and April 2020. Two reviewers independently evaluated the selected studies and extracted data on the type of studied CSCs, evaluated area of the teeth, sample size, the dimension of a prepared area, slice thickness, storage duration, the setting of the universal testing machine (UTM), effects of blood contamination on POBS of CSCs and their failure modes. The bond strength of evaluated CSCs in studies was used for network meta-analysis.
Initial searches identified 292 articles, while only 13 articles met the inclusion criteria. Full texts of these articles were evaluated, and data extraction was performed. The effect of blood contamination on bond strength to the dentinal wall was assessed in various CSCs such as PMTA, Biodentine, and AMTA. The network meta-analysis results showed that the bond strength of Biodentine was significantly higher than other types of cement in blood presence (p < .05).
Based on the current systematic review, despite controversies among the result of the different articles and the lack of data for some CSCs like bioaggregate, it could be concluded that the bond strength of Biodentine to the dentinal wall is better than other evaluated CSCs in the presence of blood.

OBJECTIVE: Dental treatments are inherently associated with the appearance of potentially infective aerosols, blood and saliva splashes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the quantitative contamination of protective eyewear during different dental treatments and the efficacy of the subsequent disinfection.
METHODS: Fifty-three standardized protective eyewear shields worn by students, dentists and dental assistants during different aerosol-producing dental treatment modalities (supragingival cleaning, subgingival periodontal instrumentation, trepanation and root canal treatment and carious cavity preparation; within all treatments, dental evacuation systems were used) were analysed, using common forensic techniques. For detection of blood contamination, luminol solution was applied onto the surface of safety shields. A special forensic test paper was used to visualize saliva contamination. Further analysis was conducted after standardized disinfection using the same techniques. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS.
RESULTS: Macroscopically detectable contamination was found on 60.4% of protective eyewear surfaces. A contamination with blood (median 330 pixels, equivalent to 0.3% of the total surface) was detected on all shields after dental treatment. Between various dental treatments, the contamination with blood tend to be statistically significant (p = 0.054). Highest amount of blood was observed after professional tooth cleaning (median 1,087 pixels). Significant differences of saliva contamination were detected between the different measurements (p < 0.001) with contamination only after dental treatment. Due to the low variance and right-skewed distribution for saliva contamination, no statistical analysis between different treatments could be performed. After disinfection, 0.02% blood contamination and no saliva contamination were detected.
CONCLUSIONS: Disinfection is effective against blood and saliva contamination. Macroscopically, clean protective eyewear contains up to 12% surface contamination with blood. Based on the results, it may be concluded that protective eyewear is essential for each dental practitioner.
CONCLUSIONS: As standard for infection prevention in the dental practice, disinfection of protective eyewear after each patient is necessary.

Proteomics analysis is often troubled by high-abundance proteins in samples such as plasma. However, many surgical tissue samples inevitably have got contaminated with blood before cryopreservation. Selection of an appropriate method to minimize the effect of high-abundance proteins is important for proteomics analysis of blood contaminated tissues. Here, we investigated and compared the abilities of data-independent acquisition (DIA) and data-dependent acquisition (DDA) strategies for the proteomics analysis of blood contaminated clinical tissue samples. 12 pairs of carcinoma and para-carcinoma tissue samples from lung cancer patients were used for proteomics assays separately by DIA and DDA and the blood contamination level in samples was evaluated by Contamination Index (CI). Compared with the DDA strategy, DIA in whole exhibited much better analytical capabilities in proteomics analysis of these samples with more identified protein groups and a higher discovery of differential proteins. With CI value increasing, whether DIA or DDA showed decreasing analysis ability. However, for samples with high CI values, the DIA strategy still shows acceptable analytical capability and indicates better blood pollution resistance than the DDA strategy. Our results implied that for clinical tissue samples, particularly for those contaminated with blood, DIA strategy should be a preferred method in proteomics studies. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.