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Severe Chronic Periodontitis Is Associated With Endothelial and Microvascular Dysfunctions: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
LiraJunior Ronaldo,
Figueredo Carlos Marcelo,
Bouskela Eliete,
Fischer Ricardo Guimarães
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of periodontology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.036
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1943-3670
pISSN - 0022-3492
DOI - 10.1902/jop.2014.140189
Subject(s) - interquartile range , medicine , endothelial dysfunction , periodontitis , chronic periodontitis , endothelium , pathogenesis , cardiology , gastroenterology
Background: Periodontitis is an inflammatory chronic disease that has been implicated as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Endothelium has a central role in CVD pathogenesis, and chronic inflammation can make it dysfunctional, contributing to CVD emergence. Thus, the aim of this study is to investigate the existence of an association between severe chronic periodontitis (CP) and nailfold microvascular, gingival microvascular, and endothelial functions. Methods: Twenty‐three patients were included, 13 with severe periodontitis (median age, 46 years; interquartile range, 9.5 years) and 10 healthy control patients (median age, 35.5 years; interquartile range, 12.5 years). Clinical and laboratorial variables were gathered, and patients were examined by the following: 1) nailfold videocapillaroscopy to assess functional capillary density (FCD), capillary diameters, red blood cell velocity at rest (RBCV) and after 1‐minute arterial occlusion (RBCV max ), and time taken to reach RBCV max (TRBCV max ); 2) side‐stream dark‐field imaging to determine gingival capillary density (GCD); and 3) venous occlusion plethysmography to assess endothelium‐dependent (% Hyper) and endothelium‐independent vasodilatation (% Nitro). Results: Patients with CP have smaller values for FCD, RBCV, RBCV max , and % Hyper and higher values for TRBCV max and GCD compared with controls ( P <0.05). There were significant correlations between periodontal parameters with FCD, RBCV, RBCV max , TRBCV max , GCD, and % Hyper. There was also a negative correlation between FCD and GCD ( r = −0.7; P <0.01). Associations between periodontitis and FCD, RBCV max , TRBCV max , GCD, and % Hyper remained significant after adjustments for age and systolic blood pressure. Conclusion: Severe CP was directly associated with endothelial and microvascular dysfunctions.