Osmotic Pressure and Vasculature of Gingiva in Experimental Diabetes Mellitus

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BACKGROUND: Alterations in tissue osmotic pressure (OP) and vasculature are considered to be the inevitable aspects of an inflammatory process that subsequently alter the fluid dynamics of the tissues involved. The aim of this study was to reveal a profile of OP and vascular changes in periodontally healthy gingival tissues and analyze the relationship between them in diabetes mellitus (DM) to evaluate the possible effects of DM on the fluid dynamics of the periodontium. METHODS: Experimental DM was created by intraperitoneal streptozotocin injection in 10 periodontally healthy rats. These rats were used as the test group, and 10 systemically and periodontally healthy rats served as the control group. Gingival tissue samples obtained from the groups were used for the test procedures. OP was measured in the supernatants of these samples by a semimicrodigital osmometer. Vasculature was assessed as the alterations in vascularization (vessel number [VN]) and vasodilatation (vessel diameter [VD]) by histomorphometric means. RESULTS: There was a gross increase in the OP level of the test group (172.7 +/- 59.7 mOsm/kg) compared to the control group (11.4 +/- 4.2 mOsm/kg; P <0.001). VN was found to be significantly larger in the test group (12.7 +/- 2.8) than in the control group (6.8 +/- 1.1; P <0.001). VD was found to be smaller in the test group (10.1 +/- 2.8 microm) than in the control group (15.5 +/- 2.4 microm), and this difference was statistically significant (P <0.001). A positive correlation between OP and VN (r = 0.77; P <0.001) and a negative correlation between OP and VD (r = 0.1; P >0.05) were observed in the test group. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that the fluid dynamics of periodontal soft tissues may be affected by the diabetic conditions in this diabetic model because of the increased OP and VN during the pathogenesis of the disease.