Does Atorvastatin Alone Ameliorate Chronic Periodontitis in Hyperlipidemic Patients? (A Cross-Sectional Study)

Abstract

The present study was conducted to assess whether atorvastatin (ATV) alone could improve periodontal parameters and reduce inflammation and bone resorption in generalized chronic periodontitis (gCP) patients with hyperlipidemia. One hundred and two subjects were classified into three groups: Group I included 34 gCP patients with hyperlipidemia and maintained on a daily dose of 20 mg atorvastatin at least for 6 months. Group II comprised 34 gCP patients with hyperlipidemia and not taking any hypolipidemic drugs. Group III consisted of 34 normolipidemic individuals with gCP. The periodontal parameters including plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL) were recorded and compared. Unstimulated whole saliva and blood samples were harvested from all subjects. Salivary levels of interleukin-1beta (IL-1β) and receptor activator of nuclear kappa B ligand (RANKL) were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. The blood samples were used to assess the lipid profile for all patients including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoproteincholesterol (HDL-C). The results demonstrated significantly greater decrease of periodontal parameters and salivary IL-1β and RANKL levels in group I compared to other groups. BOP, PD and CAL were positively correlated with the levels of salivary IL-1β, TC, TG and LDL-C whereas HDL-C measurements were negatively associated with BOP, PD and CAL. In conclusion, ATV could be a viable therapeutic modality in gCP management, due to its anti-inflammatory and antiosteopathic effects. Salivary IL-1β and RANKL could serve as reliable biomarkers in periodontal disease.