Effects of different alcohol concentrations on the development of apical periodontitis in rats

To investigate the effect of different alcohol concentrations on the development of apical periodontitis (AP) in rats.

Forty Wistar rats were arranged into five groups: (C) - control rats receiving sterile water as the only liquid; (G5) - animals receiving an alcohol solution at 5%, (G10) - alcohol solution at 10%, (G15) - alcohol solution at 15%, and (G20) - alcohol solution at 20%. The alcoholic solution or water was given to the groups as the sole source of hydration throughout the 30 days of the experiment. AP was induced in the mandibular molars on the first day. In the end, the animals were euthanized for histopathological and IL-1b, RANKL, OPG, and TRAP analyses. The Kruskal-Wallis test was used for nonparametric data, and ANOVA followed by the Tukey test were performed for parametric data, p < 0.05.

G15 and G20 had a greater chronic inflammatory infiltrate (Score 3) and AP size bigger (1.59 ± 0.41 and 1.83 ± 0.38, respectively) than the C, G5 and G10 (p < 0.05). No significant difference was found in the IL-1b analyses. The G15 and G20 showed the highest immunolabeling pattern for RANKL and the lowest for OPG. The G20 had greater TRAP cells per mm (4.70 ± 0.99) compared to the C, G5, and G10 (p < 0.05). Furthermore, G15 presented 3.92 ± 0.64 TRAP cells/mm, higher than C (p < 0.05).

G5 and G10 did not exert a protective or aggravating effect on the AP development. However, G15 and G20 had a significant effect on the AP severity, exacerbating the inflammation and osteoclast markers.