Effects of simultaneous nicotine and alcohol use in periodontitis progression in rats: A histomorphometric study

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of alcohol and nicotine, when used alone or simultaneously, on the alveolar bone loss area resulting from ligature-induced periodontitis in rats. STUDY DESIGN Forty adult male rats received a cotton ligature in the first lower molar sulcular area, and the animals were randomly assigned to different treatments (n = 10, each group) including daily peritoneal injections of saline solution (group A), submitted to self-administration of alcohol 25% (group B), nicotine solution in concentration 0.19 μl/ml (group C), and nicotine solution in concentration 0.19 μl/ml plus self-administration of alcohol 25% (group D). Five weeks later, the animals were sacrificed, and the samples were routinely processed for semi-serial decalcified sections. RESULTS Ligated teeth showed more alveolar bone loss than unligated ones (p < 0.05). Unligated teeth showed no significant differences between each other (p > 0.05). Analyses between the ligated teeth showed that the group C (nicotine) or group B (alcohol 25%) each had increasing alveolar bone loss in the furcation area, and the simultaneous combination alcohol and nicotine (group D) intensified these effects (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The results suggest that the simultaneous combination of alcohol and nicotine have a synergistic effect in the progression of periodontitis, evidenced by increased furcation region bone destruction in periodontal disease in rats. Key words:Alveolar bone loss, periodontitis, nicotine, alcohol, rats.