Avaliação macro e microscópica de lesões orais induzidas por procedimentos cirúrgicos em ratos sob terapia com bisfosfonatos

Abstract

The aim of this work was to compare clodronate and zoledronic acid effect on the repair of surgical wounds induced by tooth extraction and oral soft tissue lesion. Thirty-four rats (Rattus novergicus, Wistar) were allocated into 3 groups: (1) 12 animals treated with zoledronic acid; (2) 12 animals treated with clodronate; and (3) 10 animals that were given saline solution. Elapsed 90 days from the beginning of the treatment, the animals were subjected to tooth extractions and surgical-induced soft tissue injury in maxillae. At 180 days of drug administration, they were euthanized. After macroscopic evaluation, maxillae were processed and histological cuts were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Immunohistochemical expression of RANKL, OPG, von Willebrand and caspase-3 was also evaluated. Non-vital bone, inflammatory infiltrate, microbial colonies, epithelial tissue, connective tissue and vital bone were quantified at the tissue wound sites. At the tooth extraction site, root fragments were also evaluated. The variables were quantified with Image Pro Plus software. Macroscopic analysis at the tooth extraction site showed that zoledronic acid group was associated with loss of mucosal integrity (chi-square, residual adjusted analysis, p<0.001), whereas at the soft tissue wound site, no group showed this association (chi-square, p=0.151). At the tooth extraction site, the zoledronic acid group showed greater proportion of non-vital bone and microbial colonies in comparison with the other groups. At the soft tissue wound site, the proportions of non-vital bone and microbial colonies were greater in the zoledronic acid and clodronate groups than in the control group. There was no significant difference for epithelial tissue, inflammatory infiltrate and root fragments between the groups (Kruskal-Wallis test complemented by its multiple comparisons test, p>0.05). Immunohistochemical expression of RANKL, OPG, von Willebrand and caspase-3 at tooth extraction and soft tissue wound sites did not differ significantly between the three groups analyzed (Kruskal-Wallis test, p>0.05). According to the results, (1) both bisphosphonates zoledronic acid and clodronate are capable of inducing osteonecrosis; (2) the immunohistochemical analysis suggests that the involvement of soft tissues as the initiator of osteonecrosis development is less probable than has been pointed out.