Factors influencing nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth in rats

Factors such as age, the dose of nifedipine administered in the diet, serum drug level, duration of drug administration, and sex which may influence nifedipine-induced gingival overgrowth were examined in a rat model using 20-, 50-, and 90-days-old male and female rats. Oral administration of nifedipine (50 to 250 mg/kg diet) increased the serum level of the drug in a dose-dependent manner in both males and females. However, a higher serum level was required in females than males to attain the same degree of gingival overgrowth. The minimum dietary concentrations of the drug required to elicit gingival overgrowth in males and females were 150 and 100 mg/kg, respectively, which gave respective minimum serum levels of 800 and 1100 ng/ml. The degree of overgrowth depended on the serum concentration of the drug after it had reached the required minimum in male and female animals. Administration of nifedipine (250 mg/kg diet) for 20 days was enough to induce maximal overgrowth, but this induction occurred only in rats that started to receive the drug when they were 20 days old, not in those that started at 50 and 90 days of age for the same administration period of 55 days, and the overgrowth regressed and the gingiva were normal 40 days after ceasing drug administration. These results suggest that gingival overgrowth occurred in accordance with the drug concentration in the diet, as well as that in the serum, and was more likely to occur in males and younger individuals.