Anuradha Pai’s research while affiliated with Mamata Medical College and other places

Objective To observe the expression patterns of salivary mRNA 21 in different stages and grades of OSMF and also in habitual arecanut chewers without OSMF. Subjects and methods The study consisted of a total of 185 samples, where 61 patients had chewing habits (chewing gutkha and other forms of arecanut) and had OSMF (Group 1). Sixty-one patients had chewing habits but did not have OSMF (Group 2), and 63 were normal healthy patients (control group) without any chewing habits (Group 3). Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from patients following the standard operating procedures. miRNA 21 was isolated and purified from saliva samples using the miRNeasy Mini Kit, Qiagen. The primers for miRNA relative quantification analysis were designed using the Primer Express software of Applied Biosystems. Quantification of all the samples was carried out using SYBR chemistry in an Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR. Results There was no statistically significant difference between the demographic characteristics of patients. There was a statistically significant difference between the expressions of miRNA 21 amongst the three groups noted in Kruskal Wallis test. (<0.001*) A post hoc test was done to confirm the statistical difference between patients within all three groups. There was no statistically significant difference noted between the OSMF group and patients with chewing habits group (G1 vs. G2 p: 0.10), but there was a significant difference when compared with normal patients. (G1 vs G3 p: <0.001*) and (G2 vs G3 <0.001*) Conclusion This study concludes that miRNA 21 is overexpressed in OSMF and chewing habit patients. But the expression levels were not significantly associated with the severity of the disease process. A long term and large scale study are required to assess its application as a diagnostic profibrotic marker in OSMF.

Background and Objectives: Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant lesion of the oral cavity and successful management remains a challenge. Our study aims to compare the efficacy of three commonly used modalities of treatment, namely (i) non-invasive therapy like physiotherapy only, (ii) physiotherapy in combination with antioxidants, and (iii) invasive therapy like intralesional therapy. It aimed to ascertain the most effective treatment modality among the three which one of them helped improve the maximum mouth opening (MMO) and reduce oral sensitivity to spicy food as measured on numeric analog scale (NAS). Materials and Methods: This randomized multilabel study was conducted on 49 patients visiting the outpatient Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, over a 2-year period. A detailed history of burning sensation in the mouth and the severity was recorded using NAS. A Vernier caliper was used for the measurement of MMO. The symptom of burning sensation and MMO was evaluated on the 15 th , 30 th , 45 th , and 90 th days. Results: Findings from the study showed that physiotherapy alone was not effective in alleviating neither burning sensation nor did it significantly improve the MMO. The percentage decrease in burning sensation was highest in the interventional group receiving an intralesional injection (87.4% at 45 days and 100% at 90 days). Physiotherapy with antioxidant group showed almost similar percentage decrease in burning sensation as the interventional group (80.8% at 45 days and 96.8% at 90 days. For MMO, physiotherapy with antioxidant group showed better MMO at 90 days (34.2% vs. 26.8%). Conclusion: A non-invasive treatment modality of physiotherapy with antioxidant treatment modality is as effective as an invasive intralesional injection, in the management of patients with OSMF. The findings suggest that non-invasive modality of physiotherapy with antioxidant treatment can be considered as standard care for the management of OSMF.

Background: Recently, the concept of field cancerization has questioned the accuracy of biopsy site selection clinically. Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) has a global malignant transformation rate of 7.6% despite having less dysplastic changes clinically or histologically. Hence, this study was undertaken to evaluate the expression of vimentin, epithelial-cadherin (E-Cad) and collagen IV in OSMF, using immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Materials and Methods: One hundred and eighty- five patients with OSMF (61), with habits and no OSMF (61) and patients without habit and OSMF (63) were subjected to biopsy for sample collection. The samples were analyzed immunohistochemically for vimentin, E-Cad and collagen IV. The PCR values for vimentin and E-Cad were also done. Results: Vimentin expression was increased in OSMF patients, whereas E-Cad expression was decreased in OSMF patients. Conclusion: Epithelial–mesenchymal transition signatures are definitely positive in OSMF cases. Keywords: Collagen-IV, epithelial-cadherin, epithelial–mesenchymal transition markers, immunohistochemistry, oral submucous fibrosis, vimentin

Aim: Correlation of habit duration and frequency with clinical grading and histopathologic grouping of oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). Materials and methods: 48 patients with OSMF were included in the study. Detailed history of each patient, clinical profile and habit history were recorded. Biopsy was performed for histopathological correlation. All the findings were correlated with Kerr et al and Khanna and Andrade classification. Statistical Analysis: Kruskal-wallis test was performed to assess the correlation between the study findings. Results: Out of 48 OSMF cases majority were males. Maximum cases were in clinically and histopathologically respectively. Mouth opening was directly proportional with histopathological grouping as per Khanna et al. No correlation between frequency and habit duration with respect to different stages or severity of the OSMF was noted. Conclusion: Disease staging of OSMF clinically and histopathologically is not directly impacted by habit duration and frequency. Rather than habit centered history and management accordingly, more focus should be given to genetics and susceptibility of patient for OSMF development and progression.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Dental Radiology; Maxillofacial Radiology; Digital Dentistry Advanced breakthroughs in image recognition techniques using artificial intelligence (AI) and media researcher statements has led to the impression of AI being equated with the demise of radiologists. However, the work performed by radiologists includes many other tasks apart from image recognition that require common sense and general intelligence for solving tasks that cannot be achieved through AI. A thorough knowledge regarding the adaptation of technology will not only help in better and precise patient care but also reducing the work burden of the radiologist. This review focuses on artificial intelligence and its application in dento-maxillofacial radiology perspective.

Introduction: Globally, tobacco is a major cause of increased morbidity and mortality rates due to oral carcinoma. Despite the efforts of Government of India on anti-tobacco advertisements and campaigns, there is an increase in the number of consumers whereas the percentage who have attempted to quit the habit stands at a mere 3%-5%. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of media enabled Government of India initiated anti-tobacco and anti-smoking advertisement and campaigns and understand behavioural/psychological response among tobacco users and non-users towards such campaigns. Materials and Methods: This was a questionnaire-based study. A total of randomly selected general public, 250 young adults in the age group of 18 to 25 years, 158-tobacco users and 92-nontobacco users, in South Bengaluru, India was interviewed on one to one basis in the study. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data on basic personal details, specific questions related to Government of India initiated anti-tobacco advertisements, and psychological tests namely Sentence completion test, Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and Inkblot test were used to check the responses among tobacco and anti-tobacco users. The SPSS version 22.0 software IBM, Corp was used to do the descriptive statistical analysis and the level of significance was set at p

Hematologic malignancies constitute approximately 9 % of all cancer cases diagnosed in a year collectively and are amongst the top 10 malignant disorders with respect to the incidence as well as cause of death in cancer patients. Although the oral manifestations of these malignancies are non-pathognomonic, they may often represent the initial sign of the underlying hematopoietic disease. Knowledge of symptoms of hematologic malignancies at an early stage can help in early diagnosis and reduction is diseases burden of patient as well as healthcare system.

Pulpal Pathologies are the most commonly encountered problem in dental practice. Time and again, emphasis on various sequalae of pulpitis and pulpo-periapical pathologies are detailed in the literature. However, malignancies involving pulpal tissues are seldom spoken about. To explore the presence or absence of malignancy in dental pulp, we did a literature review and arrived at a hypothesis pertaining to the presence or absence of malignancy in pulpal tissue. While using the search phrase “dental pulp” combined with “sarcoma”, “carcinoma” or “neoplasms” in PubMed when using the MeSH search mode yielded no reports on primary malignant neoplasms. However, a hand search yields clinical reports on pulpal tumours that were published over a century ago. The very existence of primary malignant neoplasms of the dental pulp is questionable when relying on modern information sources. An investigation of this topic should proceed via two specific methods: a review of the published work, and a study of general tumour pathogenesis with respect to specific anatomical prerequisites of the dental pulp. Patient education and periodic oral cancer examinations by dental professionals are necessary to reduce diagnostic delay and improve prognosis. This review emphasizes the important role of dental professionals, especially periodontists and endodontists, of being aware that squamous cell carcinoma may manifest itself clinically and/or radiographically as a common periodontal or endodontic lesion. Keywords: Pulpal Tissue; Metastasis; Pulpal Cancer