The Effects of Immunosuppressive and Immunoenhancing Agents on Rat Experimental Periodontitis

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of immunosuppressive and immunoenhancing agents on rat experimental periodontitis. Twenty seven Wistar male rats were employed. Their maxillary second molars were wire-ligated at 13 weeks of age, and the rats fed powder diet during subsequent experimental period. At 25 weeks of age, blood, crevicular lymphnodes and maxilla were sampled. Rats were devided into 3 groups. The immunosuppressive group (IS, n=10) were administered Cyclophosphamide at a dosage of 15 mg/kg/week by intraperitoneal injection, and in immunoenhancing group, (IE, n=7) Levamisole of 1 mg/kg/week was used in the same way, and control group (C, n=10) was untreated. The serum IgG titers against rat oral bacteria and E. coli LPS were determined by ELISA method, and blastogenesis of lymphocytes was assessed by 3Hthymidine uptake. Maxilla was used for histological examination and alveolar bone level scoring. The IgG titers and blastogenic responses did not change dramatically in both groups, but tended to decrease in IS group, and in IE group a tendency for their increase was recognized. Alveolar bone loss was decreased significantly in palatal side of maxillary second molars of IE group. However, gingival inflammatory infiltrate was slight and did not differ in 3 groups.