Effect of 15% Alcohol Dependence on Alveolar Bone Loss and TNF-α Secretion in Wistar Rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of 15% alcohol dependence on ligature-induced alveolar bone loss and TNF-α secretion in Wistar rats. Thirty-three male Wistar rats aged 45-60 days (mean weight=253 g) were randomly allocated test or control groups. Test group (n=18) received 15% alcohol as liquid intake and control group (n=15) received water during the experimental period. TNF-α was analyzed by ELISA assay in 11 animals per group. After 14 days of alcohol/water intake, alcohol dependency was assessed and silk ligatures were placed around the left second upper molars. Ligature presence and body weight were checked weekly. After 40 days, animals were sacrificed and the maxillae were defleshed for morphometric analysis using standardized images. All animals in the test group displayed signs of alcohol dependency at day 14. No statistically significant differences in final body weight (334.83±21.38 vs. 322.48±30.65 g, p=0.20) were observed between groups. In relation to alveolar bone loss, no statistically significant difference was observed among test and control groups both for ligated teeth (0.76±0.06 vs. 0.74±0.10 mm, p=0.60) and unligated teeth (0.41±0.16 vs. 0.35±0.05 mm, p=0.22). The TNF-α secretion also did not display statistically significant differences between test and control groups (10.78±1.84 vs. 12.13±2.11 pg/mL, p=0.12). It may be concluded that 15% alcohol dependency was not capable to alter alveolar bone loss and TNF-α secretion in Wistar rats.