Diabetic Rats Present High Mean Platelet Count in the Presence of Oral Infections

P. G, Rahman W. Clinical and diagnostic significance of blood leukocyte ratios in young patients with stage III grade C periodontitis

OBJECTIVES

Blood leukocyte ratios have been recently proposed as simple, rapid, cheap and easily accessible biomarkers of systemic inflammation. However, little is known about the relationship of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR) with periodontitis, which might not only serve as the potential biomarkers of systemic inflammation but also aid in diagnosis/screening of severe periodontitis. Hence, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in the serum levels of these leukocyte ratios in healthy subjects and patients with generalized stage III Grade C periodontitis, and their applicability in identifying patients with the risk of developing severe periodontitis.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The subjects were categorized into case and control group. Clinical parameters including Plaque index (PI), modified Gingival Index (mGI), Mean ratio of bleeding sites, Probing Pocket depth (PPD) and the clinical attachment loss (CAL) were assessed in both the groups. Venous blood samples were collected from subjects from both groups for the biochemical analysis and blood leukocyte ratios- NLR, PLR and LMR were calculated. The values were then subjected to statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The results showed significantly higher NLR and lower LMR values in patients with generalized stage III grade C periodontitis. Both the blood leukocyte ratios were moderately associated with increasing clinical parameters of periodontal disease. However, the values of PLR, although found to be higher in the periodontitis group, did not make a significant difference when compared with periodontally healthy subjects. The cut-off value of >2.15 for NLR and <7.16 for LMR fairly predicted the risk of severe periodontitis in young adults.

CONCLUSIONS

NLR and LMR can provide a new insight into the relationship between periodontitis and systemic diseases and can be of potential diagnostic value in identifying patients with severe periodontitis of younger age group.

Evolution of endodontic medicine: a critical narrative review of the interrelationship between endodontics and systemic pathological conditions

Endodontics has gained emphasis in the scientific community in recent years due to the increase in clinical and in animal models studies focused on endodontic medicine, which aims to evaluate the interrelationship between systemic and periapical tissues pathological conditions. These studies have shown that systemic changes can boost the pathogenesis of endodontic infection, favoring its development and progression. A contrary relationship is reported in numerous studies that affirm the potential of endodontic infection to trigger systemic damage and may lead to the worsening of pre-existing pathologies. Recently, the potential of filling materials to develop systemic changes such as neurological alterations had been evaluated, also showing that systemic diseases can negatively influence tissue responses to filling materials after endodontic treatment. Despite advances in endodontic medicine studies, there are still gaps in knowledge on the mechanisms of interactions between apical periodontitis (AP) and systemic diseases and much research to be done. In this sense, this critical narrative literature review aimed to show the evolution of studies in endodontic medicine to help the endodontist to know the role of systemic diseases in the pathogenesis of AP and the possible interference in the repair of periapical tissues after endodontic treatment, as well as to evidence the systemic complications that can be triggered or aggravated in the presence of endodontic infection.

[Effect of initial periodontal therapy on blood parameters related to erythrocyte and platelet in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic periodontitis]

OBJECTIVE

To compare the blood parameters related to erythrocyte and platelet between baseline and 3 months after initial periodontal therapy in patients with both type 2 diabetes mellitus and chronic periodontitis (DM-P).

METHODS

According to the International Symposium on Classification of Periodontal Diseases and Conditions in 1999 and the diagnostic criteria of type 2 diabetes mellitus proposed by the World Health Organization in 1999, 35 patients with DM-P were recruited. All the participants received initial periodontal therapy, including oral hygiene instruction, scaling, and root planning provided by one senior periodontist. Original diet, exercise, and medication for blood glucose control were unchanged for all the participants. At baseline and 3 months after initial periodontal therapy, the clinical periodontal parameters, including probing depth (PD), bleeding index (BI) and clinical attachment loss (CAL); erythrocyte-related indexes, including red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), RBC volume distribution width (RDW); platelet-related indexes, including platelet (PLT) count, mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), plateletocrit (PCT) were measured and compared.

RESULTS

Compared with baseline, the periodontal parameters, including PD [(3.370±0.601) mm vs. (2.729±0.431) mm], BI [2.160 (1.550~3.410) vs. 1.420 (1.000~2.970)] and CAL [(3.307±1.577) mm vs. (2.990±1.587) mm], were significantly reduced (P < 0.001) three months after the initial periodontal therapy; the erythrocyte-related indexes, including RBC count [(4.727±0.392)×10¹²/L vs. (4.825±0.394)×10¹²/L, P=0.010], HGB [(145.886±11.792) g/L vs. (149.200±12.979) g/L, P=0.007] and HCT [43.40% (37.50%~48.50%) vs. 43.80% (38.50%~53.20%), P=0.003], were significantly increased three months after the initial periodontal therapy; PLT count [(216.714±61.900)×10⁹/L vs. (205.886±62.051)×10⁹/L, P=0.016] was significantly reduced 3 months after the initial periodontal therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

The initial periodontal therapy can significantly improve blood parameters related to RBC and PLT, which might decrease the risk of vascular complications in DM-P patients.

Apical Periodontitis and Diabetes Mellitus Type 2: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective: Investigate if there is an association between apical periodontitis and diabetes mellitus. Material and methods: A bibliographic search was performed on Medline/PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases using the keywords apical periodontitis and diabetes mellitus. Published papers written in English and performed on animals or humans were included. Meta-analysis was performed using the OpenMeta (analyst) tool for the statistical analysis. The variables analyzed were the prevalence of Apical Periodontitis (AP) among teeth and patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). Results: Of the total studies found, only 21 met the inclusion criteria. Ten clinical studies on animals, ten studies on humans and a systematic review were included. Meta-analysis shows that the prevalence of teeth with apical periodontitis among patients with diabetes mellitus has an odds ratio of 1.166 corresponding to 507 teeth with AP + DM and 534 teeth with AP without DM. The prevalence of patients with AP and DM shows an odds ratio of 1.552 where 91 patients had AP + DM and 582 patients AP without DM. Conclusion: Scientific evidence suggests that there could be a common physiopathological factor between apical periodontitis and diabetes mellitus but more prospective studies are needed to investigate the association between these two diseases.