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Background: Palatal rugae patterning has been suggested as useful complementary information for forensic purposes, when there are limitations in using the primary identifiers and when the individual patterning from e.g. a dental cast can be traced or the pattern can differentiate between alternative populations of origin. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify the rugae patterns in a sample modern Indonesian population, to compare the patterns to previously reported observations, and to consider the requirements for possible forensic applications. Material and methods: Archival dental casts were randomly selected to include 47 male and 53 female Indonesian patients of the Dental Hospital of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia. The age and ethnic/geographic origin of the subjects were also recorded. The Trobo classification was applied to analyze the rugae shape patterns. Results: The results showed the line, sinuous, and curve types of rugae as predominant shapes, representing together about 83 % of the rugae of the study sample that for its size was considered reasonably representative of the Indonesian population. All recorded individual rugae patterns were unique, i.e. no similar patterns were found for any two individuals. The results are consistent with slow rugae loss at an average rate of one ruga in about 15 (±2) years after early adulthood. Conclusions: The palatal rugae patterns provide potentially useful supplementary information to establish the identity of an individual, but only when appropriate antemortem data are available. For this purpose, it is suggested that optical 3D oral/dental scanning is used to retain the data on the rugal and oropalatal patterns. Suitable pattern recognition methods may also reduce the potential effects of rugae modification in time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Aggressive periodontitis (AgP) is a specific type of periodontal disease that is characterized by rapid attachment loss and bone destruction. While attempting to identify genetic polymorphisms associated with AgP, previous research has focused on candidate genes that may be involved in immune responses to microbial infections. In this study, the focus was on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the key mediators of osteoclast differentiation and activation, which involve receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ( RANK), RANK ligand ( RANKL) and osteoprotegrin ( OPG), in the Japanese population. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of RANK/ RANKL/ OPG gene polymorphisms with AgP in the Japanese population. Material and Methods: We examined 99 patients with AgP and 89 controls from the Japanese population to explore the possibility of RANK/ RANKL/ OPG loci as candidate regions associated with the disease. All exons and relevant exon–intron boundaries of these three candidate genes were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using 19 primers, followed by direct sequencing. The polymorphisms were identified by comparing the sequences obtained from 48 subjects. Results: We identified 27 SNPs in RANK, including 10 novel SNPs and seven SNPs each in both RANKL and OPG. A pairwise linkage disequilibrium analysis using the r 2 statistic showed that some SNP pairs from the three loci are in tight linkage disequilibrium. Conclusion: An association analysis with allelotypes showed that SNPs identified in the RANK/ RANKL/ OPG genes have no significant association with AgP in the Japanese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aggressive periodontitis (AgP) is characterized by the early onset of the rapid and progressive destruction of the alveolar bone. We investigated the correlation of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in candidate genes with AgP in the Japanese population in order to determine the genetic risk factors for this complex disease. Among 11 genes related to bone formation and resorption, 43 known SNPs were tested in 98 case and 88 control samples for association with AgP by using SNP genotyping techniques. Among these, three polymorphisms located in the colony stimulating factor 1 (CSF1) gene showed a positive association with AgP. This is the first case of an association between a CSF1 polymorphism and a human disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]