Herbal anti-inflammatory immunomodulators as host modulators in chronic periodontitis patients: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial.
OBJECTIVE
Host modulatory therapy has been proposed as a treatment for periodontal diseases. A class of herbal medicines, known to be immunomodulators, alters the activity of immune function through the regulation of informational molecules such as cytokines. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that herbal immunomodulator drugs act as an adjuvant to scaling and root planing (SRP) in alleviating periodontal inflammation by improving clinical and biochemical parameters.


METHODS
Sixty healthy subjects (30 in each group) with moderate and severe chronic periodontitis were enrolled in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, double-masked randomised controlled trial. The control group was treated with SRP and a placebo, whereas the test group was treated with SRP followed by dietary supplementation of Septilin for 3 weeks. Periodontal clinical parameters and serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were evaluated for all patients at the baseline, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks.


RESULTS
Improved gingival index scores found in the test group as compared to the control group were found to be statistically significant only after 3 weeks (P<0.001). In contrast, the decrease in the sulcus bleeding index and pocket depth scores was statistically highly significant in the test group as compared to the control group after 3 weeks and 6 weeks (P<0.001). However, reduced clinical attachment level and CRP scores, as reflected in the test group as compared to the control group, were not found to be statistically significant after both 3 weeks (P>0.05) and 6 weeks (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this clinical-biochemical study suggest that dietary supplementation with herbal immunomodulatory agents may be a promising adjunct to SRP and may aid in improving periodontal treatment outcomes.
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Girish D
0000-0001-8034-3641
GD
Deore
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Abhijit N
0000-0002-1530-5160
AN
Gurav
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Rahul
0000-0002-9066-5705
R
Patil
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Abhijeet R
0000-0001-6871-9749
AR
Shete
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Ritam S
0000-0002-0923-4829
RS
Naiktari
Department of Periodontology, Tatyasaheb Kore Dental College and Research Centre, New Pargaon, Kolhapur, India.
Saurabh P
0000-0003-1584-1403
SP
Inamdar
C-reactive protein; Herbal medicine; Periodontitis; Randomized controlled trial