title: Association between long-term aspirin use and periodontal attachment level in humans: a cross-sectional investigation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pharmaceutical inhibition of host response pathways may be an adjunctive or alternative strategy for treating periodontal diseases. In addition to inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis, aspirin is known to modify the action of cyclo-oxygenase, changing its activity to a lipoxygenase and leading to formation of lipoxins which have a proresolving effect. This study evaluated the periodontal attachment level of subjects on long-term low dose aspirin therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Oral hygiene index simplified, clinical attachment loss and bleeding index were recorded for 162 subjects who were on long-term (>6 months) low dose (75 mg and 150 mg) aspirin therapy (study group) and 146 subjects not taking the drug (control group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean clinical attachment loss was 2.38 ± 0.49 mm in the control group and 2.01 ± 0.69 mm in the study group. The difference was statistically significant at p < 0.001. Correlation analysis suggested that there was a negative correlation between clinical attachment loss and duration of aspirin intake but the clinical attachment loss was not significantly different in the two dosage groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study suggest that low dose aspirin may reduce the risk of periodontal attachment loss. This hypothesis needs to be tested by larger sample sized prospective cohort studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, MR Ambedkar Dental College and Hospital, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faizuddin
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tarannum
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Korla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Swamy
mesh_terms: D001241:Aspirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D017622:Periodontal Attachment Loss / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D016861:Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; D001241:Aspirin