Atorvastatin Accelerates Alveolar Bone Loss in Type 1 Diabetic Rats Submitted to Periodontitis

Periodontal bone loss is potentiated by diabetes. Despite the beneficial anti-inflammatory and antiresorptive effects of Atorvastatin (ATV) on periodontitis, it has been reported to increase the risk of diabetes, which may modify the course of periodontal disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of ATV on alveolar bone in rats with periodontitis and diabetes. For this, 72 Wistar rats were divided into groups: Naïve (N) not submitted to any procedure; Experimental periodontitis (EP) group submitted to ligature-induced periodontitis; diabetes mellitus (DM), submitted to EP and receiving single dose of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg, i.p.) after 12 hours of fasting; and ATV DM, submitted to EP and DM and receiving orally 27 mg/kg of ATV, 30 minutes before ligature placement, and continued daily until the 11th day. Animals from EP and DM received saline solution 0.9% as placebo. Glycemic levels measured in all animals and then were euthanized. Maxillae were collected for macroscopic, micro-tomographic, and microscopic analyses. DM caused intense bone loss (60%), characterized by a reduction in trabecular thickness and bone volume. DM reduced osteoblasts, increasing osteoclast counts, and induced an inflammatory infiltrate in the periodontium. ATV was found ineffective in protecting bone in diabetic rats, exacerbating bone loss by 21%. Additionally, ATV significantly increased blood glucose levels. In summary, ATV did not prevent alveolar bone loss or modulate inflammation in DM animals undergoing EP. ATV also increased blood glucose levels in these animals. Therefore, the systemic use of ATV in uncontrolled diabetic conditions should be carefully evaluated.