In medicine stem cell–based treatments are being used in conditions like Parkinson's disease, neural degeneration following brain injury, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. In dentistry, recent exciting discoveries have isolated dental stem cells from the pulp of the deciduous and permanent teeth, from the periodontal ligament, and an associated healthy tooth structure, to cure a number of diseases. The aim of the study was to review the applications of stem cells in various fields of dentistry, with emphasis on its banking, and to understand how dental stem cells can be used for regeneration of oral and non-oral tissues conversely. A Medline search was done including the international literature published between 1989 and 2011. It was restricted to English language articles and published work of past researchers including in vitro and in vivo studies. Google search on dental stem cell banking was also done. Our understanding of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in the tissue engineering of systemic, dental, oral, and craniofacial structures has advanced tremendously. Dental professionals have the opportunity to make their patients aware of these new sources of stem cells that can be stored for future use, as new therapies are developed for a range of diseases and injuries. Recent findings and scientific research articles support the use of MSC autologously within teeth and other accessible tissue harvested from oral cavity without immunorejection. A future development of the application of stem cells in interdisciplinary dentistry requires a comprehensive research program.

Astigmatism is the commonest type of refractive error among the children of age 5 - 15 years followed by hypermetropia and myopia. Refractive error remains uncorrected in a significant number of children.

Failure to recognize the presence of abnormal thyroid hormone levels may be a primary cause of poor management of diabetes mellitus type 2. Therefore there is a need for the routine assay of thyroid hormones in type 2 diabetics and diabetic nephropathy in order to improve the quality of life and reduce the morbidity.

Introduction: Sialic acid levels are increased in type-2 diabetes mellitus and its estimation helps in predicting the occurrence of microvascular complication such as diabetic nephropathy. The present study compared the levels of sialic acid, glycated haemoglobin, serum creatinine and urine microalbumin: in type-2 diabetics without any complications; in type-2 diabetics with nephropathy; and in age and sex matched healthy individual (controls).Results: The study observed an increased level of sialic acid in type-2 diabetics without any complications and type-2 diabetics with nephropathy. Serum sialic acid levels in type-2 diabetics without any complications was 64.44 ± 3.93 mg/dl, in type-2 diabetics with nephropathy was 73.88 ± 4.41 mg/dl, and in controls it was 53.16 ± 3.40 mg/dl. Urine sialic acid levels in type-2 diabetics without any complications was 6.62 ± 0.70 mg/ dl, in type-2 diabetics with nephropathy was 8.46 ± 0.97 mg/ dl, and in controls it was 4.44 ± 0.62 mg/dl. Correlation of sialic acid levels with glycated haemoglobin and urine microalbumin was statistically significant but with serum creatinine was not statistically significant. Conclusion:Sialic acid is an important component of vascular cell membrane. Their increased levels indicate extensive vascular damage in type-2 DM. Therefore, estimation of sialic acid levels help in early prediction and prevention of microvascular complications occurring due to diabetics, thereby decreasing the mortality and morbidity in them.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group clonal disorders of hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis that lead to variable grades of impaired blood cell production. Chromosomal aberrations are often detected in MDS patients and thus cytogenetic analysis is useful for the diagnosis of these disorders. Common recurring chromosomal defects, such as the −5/5q- and −7/7q- are relatively well characterized cytogenetic abnormalities in MDS, however, the biological significance of uncommon cytogenetic alterations is unknown. We report here, two cases of peripheral blood and bone marrow hypereosinophilia in patients with MDS harboring the unbalanced translocation der(1;7)(q10;p10), a poorly characterized cytogenetic abnormality that is found in certain myeloid malignancies, including MDS. The patients reported here presented hypereosinophilia that was refractory to steroids and cytotoxic therapy, leading to severe target tissue damage that ultimately resulted in fatal end-organ failure. Potential roles of the der(1;7)(q10;p10) aberrations in the pathogenesis of aggressive eosinophilia and disease prognosis are discussed here.