Low concentration alcohol intake may inhibit spontaneous alveolar bone loss in Wistar rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of ethanol in low concentration (5%) in ligature-induced alveolar bone loss in Wistar rats.

Thirty rats were randomly assigned to test and control groups (n=15). Test group received a liquid diet containing ethanol 5% (vol./vol.) and standard rat chow. Control group received only tap water as the liquid diet and the same rat chow. In both groups, diet was delivered ad libitum. Alveolar bone loss was induced prior to the beginning of the study by means of ligatures placed around the upper second molars. The contra-lateral tooth remained as intra-group control. At the end of the nine weeks, the animals were killed and morphometric analysis of alveolar bone loss was performed by a blinded and calibrated examiner. Intra-group comparisons were performed by paired sample T-test and inter-group differences were compared by independent sample T-test (α=.05).

Animals that drank ethanol in low concentration systematically presented less alveolar bone loss than the control group, regardless of the presence of ligature. Test group showed less alveolar bone loss (p=0.04) in unligated teeth when compared to control group (0.32 ± 0.07 and 0.37 ± 0.07 mm, respectively). However, no significant difference (p=0.14) was observed between Test and Control groups (0.78 ± 0.14 and 0.84 ± 0.18 mm, respectively) in ligated teeth.

The results of this study lead to the conclusion that low concentration alcohol intake did not affect the alveolar bone loss in ligature induced periodontal breakdown.