title: Association of periodontal disease with systemic health indices in dogs and the systemic response to treatment of periodontal disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether severity of periodontal disease (PD) was associated with systemic health indices in dogs and whether treatment of PD altered systemic health indices.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study.
  
  
  METHODS
  38 dogs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthy dogs with clinical signs of PD were included in the study. Physical examination, serum biochemical analysis, a CBC, urine evaluation, measurement of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration, and a microalbuminuria test were performed prior to treatment of PD. All tooth roots were scored for gingivitis and attachment loss, and appropriate treatment of PD was performed. Laboratory data were obtained 4 weeks after treatment. The Spearman rank correlation and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses of the correlation of several variables with attachment loss or gingivitis or of differences before and after treatment revealed significant results for several variables. After applying Bonferroni corrections for family-wise error rate, significant rank correlations were found between attachment loss and platelet number (r = 0.54), creatinine concentration (r = -0.49), and the within-dog difference in CRP concentrations before and after treatment (r = 0.40). The BUN concentration was significantly higher after treatment than before treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing severity of attachment loss was associated with changes in systemic inflammatory variables and renal indices. A decrease in CRP concentration after treatment was correlated with the severity of PD. The BUN concentration increased significantly after treatment of PD. There is a need for continued research into the systemic impact of PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies-Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. jee2@cornell.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rawlinson
authors.forename: Richard E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Reiter
authors.forename: Daniel Z
authors.initials: DZ
authors.lastname: Attwater
authors.forename: Colin E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Harvey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*