[Comparative effects of adjunctive low-dose doxycycline with omega-3 fatty acid versus low-dose aspirin on chronic periodontitis]

Host modulation therapy has been considered as a new modality for treatment of periodontal disease. Omega-3 fatty acid has shown inhibitory and anti-inflammatory properties in treatment of inflammatory conditions such as perio-dontitis. This study compared the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid and low-dose aspirin with doxycycline in treatment of chronic periodontitis. Forty-five patients with chronic periodontitis were selected and their clinical periodontal parameters were measured. They received phase I of periodontal therapy and were randomly divided into three groups. Each group randomly received one of the following daily drug regimens: omega-3 fatty acid plus aspirin [80mg], doxycy-cline [20mg] and the placebo [control]. Clinical parameters were measured again after six weeks. Wilcoxon test, paired t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test and one-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. The mean values of bleeding on probing [BOP], periodontal pocket depth [PPD] and clinical attachment loss [CAL] in both test groups decreased significantly compared to the placebo group [P<0.05]. The reductions in the omega-3 group were significantly greater than those in the doxycycline group [P<0.05]. Omega-3 fatty acid can improve clinical parameters of periodontal disease, even better than doxycycline, which is routinely used for HMT