Search

Objectives: The microflora around and beneath restorations is an important factor of restoration failure. The aim of this pilot study was to determine and compare the microbial spectrum under composite and amalgam restorations with special attention to the anaerobic flora. Method and materials: Ten composite and five amalgam restorations scheduled for replacement were clinically evaluated for marginal gaps, fractures, and secondary caries. After their removal and caries diagnosis, a dentin sample just below the restoration was taken under sterile conditions, stored in a prereduced transport medium for anaerobic bacteria, and immediately transferred to a laboratory for microbial diagnosis Results: The clinical parameters showing mostly moderate marginal imperfections and the ratios of aerobic to anaerobic flora were comparable for composite and amalgam restorations (11.4%:88.6% and 15.4%:84.5%, respectively). The microbial variety under composite restorations was much greater compared to amalgam, and it was similar to that of infected root canals including anaerobic gram-negative rods, such as Fusobacterium species or Porphyromonas species Beneath amalgam, the microbial flora was similar to the one found in carious dentin and plaque, with anaerobic and facultatively anaerobic gram-positive rods dominating. Quantitatively, there were up to eight times more microorganisms under composite restorations. The number of bacterial strains correlated with the caries activity and the filling material, the number of anaerobic rods correlated highly with caries activity and localization. In a linear regression, caries activity and the filling material had statistically significant influence on the bacterial load. Conclusion: Although caries activity and location had the greatest influence on the microbial flora under the restorations, the kind of restoration material seemed to have an additional effect on the composition of the microflora. This pilot study indicates that inadequate composite restorations may promote the growth of cariogenic, as well as obligate anaerobic and potentially pulpo-pathogenic bacteria, which should be confirmed by further studies (Quintessence Int 2003;34:497-503) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim was the investigation of fungal colonization and morphological alterations under the influence of voriconazole in an in vitro system. Voriconazole stopped growth and colonization of Candida albicans (wild type SC5314) on cover slips in microtiter plates dependent on drug concentration, the time of Candida growth before the input of voriconazole and oxygen concentration. The direct microscopy by fluorescence staining with the optical brightener Blancophor® showed short bizarrely deformed mycelia looking swollen. The colonization on cover glass was diminished. Microcolonies or starting of biofilm formation as in the control was not observed . The metabolic activity was demonstrated by vital staining with FUN® 1 resulting in red fluorescent structures in the yeast forms and mycelia in the controls. Under voriconazole influence the remaining cells only showed a green or pale yellow fluorescence. Most of the cells lost their metabolic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1847 the student of medicine Theodor Sluyter (1817-1895) from Greifswald published his thesis in Berlin including the first well-documented case of human pulmonary aspergillosis. In 1856 Rudolf Virchow (1821-1902) classified the depicted fungi as an Aspergillus species. Possibly Carl Ferdinand Eichstedt (1816-1892) carried out the autopsy. He is known by the first description of a fungus as the cause of pityriasis versicolor in 1846. Further involved scientists from Greifswald were Wilhelm Baum (1799-1883), Theodor Litzmann (1815-1890) and the botanist Johann Konrad Schauer (1813-1848). Their curricula vitae are given in further details as well the curriculum of T. Sluyter.