Anemia of chronic disease and chronic periodontitis: does periodontal therapy have an effect on anemic status?
BACKGROUND
As the periodontal tissues mount an immune inflammatory response to bacteria and their products, the systemic challenge with these agents also induces a major vascular response. Certain inflammatory cytokines produced during periodontal inflammation can depress erythropoietin production leading to the development of anemia. The aim of this study is to investigate whether patients with chronic periodontitis have an anemic status, and subsequently, to analyze the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on the anemic status of subjects over a 6-month period.


METHODS
A total of 187 patients with chronic periodontitis participated in the study. After red blood cell analyses, 60 patients with hemoglobin concentrations below reference ranges entered into the second part of the study in which patients were treated with non-surgical periodontal therapy. Clinical parameters and red blood cell analyses were repeated at 3 and 6 months.


RESULTS
In the first part of the study, 33.6% of patients had hemoglobin concentrations below normal reference ranges. In the second part of the study, all red blood cell parameters and clinical parameters showed statistical improvements over a 6-month period.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study strengthens the hypothesis that chronic periodontitis may lead to anemia and provides evidence that non-surgical periodontal therapy can improve the anemic status of patients with chronic periodontitis with greater improvement in females.
Pradeep
A R
AR
Department of Periodontics, Government Dental College and Research Institute, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. periodontics_gdc@rediffmail.com
Anuj
Sharma
S
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D055113:Chronic Periodontitis / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D012534:Dental Scaling; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors