ABSTRACT
The aim of the study was to clarify mechanisms of the periodontitis development in rats with thyroid dysfunction based on a comparative analysis of the correlations between the connective tissue metabolism indices and the concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone, free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine in blood serum. 12-14-week-old inbred white male rats (n=48) were included to the experiment. They were randomly divided into the following groups: control; animals with a model of periodontitis; animals with periodontitis in a setting of hyperthyroidism; animals with periodontitis in a setting of hypothyroidism. Concentrations of free thyroxine, free triiodothyronine and thyroid stimulating hormone were assayed with ELISA method. Collagenolytic activity, content of glycosaminoglycans, free hydroxyproline, fucose, unbound with proteins were determined by the spectrophotometric method. The linkages between the studied indices were established on the basis of the results of the correlation analysis using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Our research has found different interconnections between the indices of connective tissue metabolism and free triiodothyronine, free thyroxine and thyroid stimulating hormone concentrations in case of experimental periodontitis combined with thyroid dysfunction, indicating that thyroid gland has regulatory influence on connective tissue metabolism. In hypothyroid rats more correlations have been established compared to the hyperthyroid rats.
