Aim: The aims of this study were to analyze the chemical constitution and the presence of heavy metals in MTA Fillapex and AH Plus sealers. Methods: The main components of the sealers were analyzed by using a Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDX), and the concentration of 11 heavy metals (arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, calcium, copper, chromium, iron,...

Community-based data relating to factors influencing zinc deficiency among preschool children in India are inadequate. Data of a large, double-blinded, randomized, controlled zinc-supplementation trial were used for assessing the descriptive epidemiology of zinc deficiency among children aged 6-35 months (n = 940). In total, 609 children were followed up for 120 days for information on morbidit...

Breast milk is considered to be the best nutrient source for infants. However, nutritional compositions of breast milk in developing countries, especially among malnourished women, have not been fully investigated. This study aimed to assess nutritional status and nutrient composition of breast milk in lactating mothers in rural Vietnam. Sixty breastfeeding mothers at 6 to 12 mo postpartum, fre...

Total plasma zinc levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis on different therapeutic treatments were determined in conjunction with total serum proteins, serum albumin and globulin, and articular index of joint tenderness, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, rheumatoid factor, serum copper, and serum iron. There were significantly lower zinc levels in patients with rheumatoid arthritis on nonste...

Zinc and copper are highly concentrated in several mammalian brain regions, including the olfactory bulb and hippocampus. Whole cell electrophysiological recordings were made from rat olfactory bulb neurons in primary culture to compare the effects of zinc and copper on synaptic transmission and voltage-gated ion channels. Application of either zinc or copper eliminated GABA-mediated spontaneou...

The standard therapy for preventing copper accumulation in Wilson's disease, D-penicillamine, has been a life-saving drug, but it has many side effects and some patients are completely intolerant. We have been using oral zinc as another approach to the therapy for Wilson's disease, with copper balance studies as the key initial assessment of the adequacy of a given dose or regimen of zinc thera...

Because women supplemented with copper have improved bone density and femurs of rats deficient in copper have decreased mechanical strength, the hypothesis that mice fed meat would have fragile bones was tested. Mice fed sirloin are hypercholesterolemic in comparison to mice fed meat and beef liver because of a relative deficiency of copper compared to zinc. Male, albino, Swiss mice were fed tr...

OBJECTIVE We compared the effects of different kinds of bread fermentation on mineral bioavailability. METHODS Wistar rats were fed one of the following experimental diets for 21 d: control, reconstituted whole wheat flour (white flour plus bran), yeast bread, and sourdough bread. The apparent mineral absorption and intestinal fermentation were measured in each animal. RESULTS Phytate conte...

introduction: zinc has a significant positive effect on the immune system and physical development in human beings. many investigators believe that the level of plasma zinc in thalasemic patients is reduced firstly because of receiving chelators like desferoxamin, and secondly because of impairment of some organs like kidney, liver, thyroid and hypophysis. therefore this study was carried out t...