Simvastatin local drug delivery in smokers with chronic periodontitis: a randomized controlled clinical trial

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

Remarkable improvement in clinical periodontal measurements after treatment with local delivery of statins in smokers with chronic periodontitis.

Main

Rao NS, Pradeep AR et al. Aust Dent J 2013; 58: 56–162

3-Hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase plays a central role in cholesterol synthesis in the liver. Statins inhibit HMG-CoA reductase. In this study, 40 patients with chronic periodontitis who regularly smoked more than 10 cigarettes/day for a minimum of 5 years, were randomly assigned to either a group that received 1) 1.2% simvastatin incorporated in a biodegradable controlled release gel together with scaling and root planning, or 2) a control group that were given a placebo gel and scaling and root planning. After each of 3, 6 and 9 months, the investigators reported that in the test group there was a reduction in PD, improved bone fill and less BOP. Possible mechanisms could be that statins inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced expression of pro-inflammatory genes or partial inhibition of osteoporosis.