The authors aimed to evaluate the effects of physical exercise on the metabolism and progression of periodontal disease (PD), induced by ligature in diabetic rats induced by high fat diet and streptozotocin (HFD/STZ). Diabetes Mellitus (DM) was induced by four weeks of a hyperlipidic diet associated with a single low-dose of streptozotocin (35 mg/kg/animal). The exercise groups swam for 60 min/day for eight weeks (five times/week). In the last two weeks of exercise, a ligature was placed around the right and left mandibular first molars. The authors determined alveolar bone loss by morphometry. Blood biochemical profile and serum levels of IL-10 and TNF-α were evaluated by colorimetric and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), respectively. The diabetic animals subjected to exercise showed decreased alveolar bone loss, lower glycemia, triacylglycerols and glycosylated hemoglobin levels than the controls. Total cholesterol and its fractions (High density lipoprotein—HDL-c, Low density lipoprotein—LDL-c and Very low density lipoprotein—VLDL-c) remained similar among the groups. Animals with PD showed higher levels of TNF-α and lower levels of IL-10, when compared to animals without PD. In diabetic animals with PD, physical exercise decreased TNF-α levels and increased IL-10 levels as well as the IL10/TNF-α ratio. In conclusion, eight weeks of physical exercise improved glycemic control and systemic inflammatory profile, and attenuated alveolar bone loss in rats with DM and PD.

Resveratrol is an anti-inflammatory compound found in several foods. Periodontal disease (PD) is associated to other systemic diseases, and inflammation may be responsible for the association. Consequently, controlling inflammation not only may benefit oral health but also may assist with the management of other chronic inflammatory conditions. We aimed to investigate the effects of resveratrol administration on PD control in preclinical studies. A systematic search was performed for scientific articles using both electronic databases and a manual search using combinations of the following keywords: “resveratrol” OR “3,5,4′-trihydroxystilbene” AND “periodontal disease” OR “periodontitis” OR “gingivitis”. Only in vivo original studies investigating resveratrol treatment on experimental animal models of PD were selected. A quality assessment of the studies was performed using the Animal Research Reporting In Vivo Experiment (ARRIVE) guidelines, and the risk of bias was assessed using the Syrcle tool. The search returned 570 articles, and 11 matched the inclusion criteria. A meta-analysis showed that resveratrol treatment attenuated alveolar bone loss (τ² = 0.0041; 95% CI: −0.14; −0.04). The ARRIVE criteria reported a good quality of studies in general (mean score 28.5 ± 2.5). However, five Syrcle domains indicated a high risk of bias or did not present information clearly. We concluded that, in preclinical studies, resveratrol treatment prevented PD progression.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of β-glucan ingestion (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) on the plasmatic levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), alveolar bone loss, and pancreatic β-cell function (HOMA-BF) in diabetic rats with periodontal disease (PD). Besides, intestinal morphology was determined by the villus/crypt ratio. A total of 48 Wistar rats weighing 203 ± 18 g were used. Diabetes was induced by the intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (80 mg/kg) and periodontal inflammation, by ligature. The design was completely randomized in a factorial scheme 2 × 2 × 2 (diabetic or not, with or without periodontitis, and ingesting β-glucan or not). The animals received β-glucan by gavage for 28 days. Alveolar bone loss was determined by scanning electron microscopy (distance between the cementoenamel junction and alveolar bone crest) and histometric analysis (bone area between tooth roots). β-glucan reduced plasmatic levels of TNF-α in diabetic animals with PD and of IL-10 in animals with PD (p < 0.05). β-glucan reduced bone loss in animals with PD (p < 0.05). In diabetic animals, β-glucan improved β-cell function (p < 0.05). Diabetic animals had a higher villus/crypt ratio (p < 0.05). In conclusion, β-glucan ingestion reduced the systemic inflammatory profile, prevented alveolar bone loss, and improved β-cell function in diabetic animals with PD.

Recently, glutamine and β-glucan have been demonstrated to play an important role in modulation of the immune system and in promoting intestinal health benefits. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of this intervention on inflammatory responses and intestinal health in mice orally pretreated with soluble Saccharomyces cerevisiae derived 1,3/1,6-β-glucan (80mg/kg) with or without glutamine (150mg/kg) and then challenged with cytarabine (Ara-C) (15mg/kg). Improvements in villi and crypts were not observed in the β-glucan group. The intestinal morphometry in the glutamine group showed the best results. β-glucan in combination with glutamine presented the highest values of IL-1β and IL-10 and lowest values for leukocytes and INF-γ. Based on these results, combined β-glucan and glutamine pretreatment reduced intestinal inflammation and improved the immune response after Ara-C challenge.