title: Effects of immunosuppressant FK-506 on tooth movement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the hypothesis that immunosuppressant tacrolimus treatment can interfere with bone turnover and rate of tooth movement.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-hundred twenty Wistar male rats were divided into four groups: Group 1 (rats subjected to orthodontic movement plus treatment with saline solution vehicle), Group 2 (rats subjected to orthodontic movement plus treatment with FK506), Group 3 (rats treated with FK506 only), and Group 4 (rats treated with saline solution vehicle). The maxillary incisors were laterally moved with a reciprocal load of 35 cN. The dosage of FK506 was 2 mg/kg/day. Howship's lacunae, osteoclasts, and macrophages were counted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Tooth movement was found to be greater in Group 1 than in Group 2 for all time periods (on days 3, 7, and 14), although a significant difference was observed only on days 7 and 14 (p < 0.05). The number of osteoclasts was smaller in Group 1 than in Group 2, whereas the number of Howship's lacunae was greater.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FK506 has the capacity of promoting osteoclasts inhibition with probable osteoclastic apoptosis of alveolar bone following tooth movement.
authors.affiliation: Federal University of Alfenas, Minas Gerais, Brazil. lacerdaorto@hotmail.com
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: M L F
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: de Farias
authors.forename: L M C
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de Mendonça
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: M M G
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: de Souza
mesh_terms: D000539:Alveolar Process / Q000166:cytology; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D015519:Bone Density / Q000187:drug effects; D016723:Bone Remodeling / Q000187:drug effects*; D001862:Bone Resorption; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D010010:Osteoclasts / Q000187:drug effects; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D016559:Tacrolimus / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014087:Tooth Movement Techniques
chemical_list: D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D016559:Tacrolimus