Evaluation of the effect of tacrolimus on periodontitis induced in rats.

OBJECTIVE: This study was to investigate the effect of tacrolimus (FK506) on periodontitis induced in rats. DESIGN: Periodontal disease was induced in 30 Wistar rats which were then randomly divided into two groups: treatment with a daily injection of 0.9% saline (1mL/day) and treatment with a daily injection of FK506. After periods of 10, 15 and 30days the animals were killed and separate radiographs of the right and left hemimandibles were obtained. One calibrated examiner measured the periodontal bone support (PBS) in the images, after the following treatments: S, saline without ligature; SL, saline with ligature; T, FK506 without ligature; TL, FK506 with ligature. The data were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey test (p<0.01). RESULTS: The radiographic results were similar at all evaluation time points. The S treatment had a higher PBS averaging at 10, 15 and 30days, which was statistically significant different compared with the SL treatment and TL treatment, but not significantly different from the T treatment. The SL and TL treatments showed no statistically significant differences between them. CONCLUSIONS: Tacrolimus used for up to 30days showed no protective or aggravating effects on alveolar bone loss.