Apical periodontitis and periodontal disease increase serum IL-17 levels in normoglycemic and diabetic rats

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the influence of apical periodontitis (AP) and/or periodontal disease (PD) on serum interleukin-17 (IL-17) levels in a rat model of diabetes mellitus (DM). Methods Eighty male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups of ten animals each: normoglycemic, AP, PD, AP+PD, DM, DM+AP, DM+PD, and DM+AP+PD. DM was induced using streptozotocin, AP by dental pulp exposure to the oral environment, and PD by periodontal ligature. The animals were sacrificed after 30 days, and venous blood samples were collected via cardiac puncture to determine the serum IL-17 and neutrophil levels. The maxillae were dissected and processed for radiographic analysis. The periapical lesion areas were quantified in pixels. The total assessed values were tabulated according to each experimental group and were statistically analyzed using Spearman’s correlation and Kruskal-Wallis test ( p