Background: The purpose of the study was to assess the dose effect on the severity of cyclosporin(CSA)-induced gingival overgrowth by an established rat model.
Methods: A total of 60 Sprague-Dawley male rats which weights were about 250 gm were selected and randomly divided into four groups. Three experimental groups of rats were provided different gastric feedings of 3mg, 10mg, 30mg CSA per kilogram body weight, daily; the last group of rats was fed with mineral oil as the control. Stone impression models of the mandibular incisal region were taken and three-dimensional analyses of the overgrown gingiva were made biweekly.
Results: In the 30 mg CSA-treated rats, all three-dimensional measurements of the gingiva were observed to be greater than those of the control rats from the second week after CSA administration. In the 10 mg CSA-treated rats, most of gingival measurements were found to be greater from the fourth week after CSA administration. The bucco-lingual width of interdental papilla on the sixth week after CSA administration was the only significant measurement showing a difference between the 3mg treated rats and the control group.
Conclusions: Because of a significant correlation between CSA-induced gingival overgrowth and CSA dosage, the dose effect on the severity of this gingival overgrowth was established in the rat model.