Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Karabuk University, Turkey.
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Karabuk University, Turkey.
Adv Clin Exp Med. 2021 May;30(5):517-524. doi: 10.17219/acem/133753.
Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the supporting tissues around the teeth, causes significant inflammatory and oxidative changes in cardiac tissue. Crocin is the active constituent of Crocus sativus (saffron) which has antioxidant properties and is protective against cardiovascular disturbances.
The present study aimed to investigate the protective effects of crocin on periodontitis-induced oxidative/inflammatory cardiac degeneration in rats in vivo.
Thirty female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group, periodontitis group (PD) and periodonditis plus crocin group (PD+Cr). Experimental periodontitis was induced by placing silk ligatures on the maxillary second molar teeth for 30 days. Afterward, crocin (100 mg/kg body weight/day) was administered to the PD+Cr group and saline was administered to the PD group and the control group for 15 days. The subjects were sacrificed on the 45th day.
Histological and biochemical analyses demonstrated that inducing periodontitis caused obvious damage to cardiac tissues which was significantly ameliorated by crocin (p < 0.05). Significant improvements in bone resorption parameters (cross-linked C-telopeptide of type I collagen and bone alkaline phosphatase) were also observed in the PD+Cr group (p < 0.05). In addition, crocin caused significant reductions of malondialdehyde levels and total oxidant score while antioxidant levels (glutathione, superoxide dismutase, total antioxidant score, and catalase) were significantly higher in PD+Cr group (p < 0.05).
This study reveals that periodontitis may cause oxidative damage in cardiac tissue and crocin improves periodontitis-induced degenerative changes in heart tissue, which is associated with its antioxidant properties.
牙周炎是一种影响牙齿支持组织的慢性炎症性疾病，会导致心脏组织发生显著的炎症和氧化变化。西红花苷是藏红花（番红花）的活性成分，具有抗氧化特性，可预防心血管紊乱。
本研究旨在体内研究西红花苷对牙周炎诱导的大鼠氧化/炎症性心脏退行性变的保护作用。
将 30 只雌性 Sprague Dawley 大鼠随机分为 3 组：对照组、牙周炎组（PD）和牙周炎加西红花苷组（PD+Cr）。通过在上颌第二磨牙上放置丝线结扎物诱导实验性牙周炎 30 天。之后，PD+Cr 组给予西红花苷（100mg/kg 体重/天），PD 组和对照组给予生理盐水，共 15 天。第 45 天处死所有实验动物。
组织学和生化分析表明，诱导牙周炎会导致心脏组织明显损伤，而西红花苷可显著改善这种损伤（p<0.05）。PD+Cr 组的骨吸收参数（I 型胶原交联 C-末端肽和骨碱性磷酸酶）也显著改善（p<0.05）。此外，西红花苷可显著降低丙二醛水平和总氧化剂评分，同时提高 PD+Cr 组的抗氧化水平（谷胱甘肽、超氧化物歧化酶、总抗氧化评分和过氧化氢酶）（p<0.05）。
本研究表明，牙周炎可能导致心脏组织发生氧化损伤，西红花苷可改善牙周炎引起的心脏组织退行性变化，这与其抗氧化特性有关。
