FEATURES OF INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND LOCAL NON-SPECIFIC IMMUNITY IN RAT GINGIVA UNDER EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED GINGIVITIS AND THERAPEUTIC-PROPHYLACTIC INTERVENTION

Abstract

Oral dysbiosis and activation of proteolytic enzymes play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of gingivitis, causing damage to periodontal soft tissues and suppression of local non-specific immunity. The search for pharmacological strategies capable of simultaneously attenuating inflammation and restoring antibacterial defense remains a pressing task of experimental dentistry. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of a therapeuticprophylactic drug complex on inflammatory markers (elastase and acid phosphatase activity) and local nonspecific immunity indices (urease and lysozyme activity) in rat gingiva under experimentally induced gingivitis. Materials and methods. The study involved 30 male Wistar rats of 1 month of age, with an average weight of 65–75 g at the beginning of the experiment and 200–210 g at the end of the experiment. The rats were divided into 3 groups. Gingival homogenates served as the material for biochemical assays. Elastase, acid phosphatase, urease and lysozyme activities were quantified. A statistically significant difference between alternative quantitative features with a distribution corresponding to the normal law was evaluated using Student's t-test. The difference was considered statistically significant at p<0.01. Research results. In the “gingivitis model” group, elastase and acid phosphatase activities increased by 45.4% (p < 0.002) and 31.9% (p < 0.002), respectively, versus intact controls; urease activity rose by 38.2% (p < 0.01), whereas lysozyme activity decreased by 34.1% (p < 0.01). Administration of the prophylactic complex produced a significant reduction in elastase (–29.7%) and acid phosphatase (–20.6%) compared with untreated gingivitis (p < 0.05–0.001), lowered urease activity (–20.2%) and increased lysozyme activity (+40.4%), restoring the parameters to nearly intact levels. Conclusions. The proposed therapeutic-prophylactic complex exerts pronounced anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects, normalising biochemical markers of inflammation and re-establishing non-specific immunity in gingiva under experimental gingivitis. These findings substantiate the potential of multicomponent compositions for prophylaxis and comprehensive treatment of inflammatory periodontal diseases.