Periodontal alteration of the microcirculation and hypercholesterolemia: a possible correlation?

OBJECTIVE We evaluated the morphological and parametric characteristics of the periodontal microcirculation in patients diagnosed as having hypercholesterolemia and high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). METHODS Forty patients were recruited, 20 of whom were affected by hypercholesterolemia and 20 of whom were considered healthy. A videocapillaroscopic examination was carried out on the periodontal mucosa in the proximity of the frenulum (II, V sextant). RESULTS The difference between the parameters of the hypercholesterolemia group and the control group was evaluated with the Mann-Whitney U-test for non-parametric ordinal data; the level of significance being P<0.05. The videocapillaroscopy documented extremely significant differences between the two groups, regarding the following parameters: total diameter of the loop (P=0.0017), diameter of the afferent loops (P=0.0004), diameter of the efferent loops (P=0.00008) and periodontal density (P=0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The capillaroscopic examination revealed a morphological alteration of the periodontal microcirculation in patients with hypercholesterolemia, which is an expression of peripheral vascular phlogosis.