Treatment of periodontal disease in beagles with lodoxamide ethyl, an inhibitor of mast cell release.

Abstract

The effect of lodoxamide ethyl, a mast cell release inhibitor on the progression of chronic periodontal disease in beagles was examined. Twelve adult female beagles with naturally occurring periodontitis were studied. Following a six‐month pretreatment baseline period, six dogs were given 20 mg/kg lodoxamide ethyl orally for a twelve‐month treatment period. In addition, at the beginning of the treatment period one‐half’ mouth in each dog was treated with periodontal flap surgery. Thus, the experimental design allowed a comparison of the progression of periodontitis about premolar teeth in a pretreatment period with progression of periodontitis in a treatment period in which one of the following treatment protocols was used: no treatment, teeth treated with periodontal flap surgery, teeth treated with lodoxamide ethyl administration, and teeth treated with lodoxamide ethyl administration plus periodontal flap surgery.In the systemically untreated dogs the rate of alveolar bone loss increased in the treatment period, compared to the baseline pretreatment period about both teeth not treated locally and teeth treated with flap surgery. In contrast, the rate of alveolar bone loss was significantly reduced in the treatment period in those dogs administered lodoxamide ethyl daily. Lodoxamide ethyl administration combined with flap surgery was more effective than lodoxamide ethyl alone. Tooth mobility significantly increased in those dogs administered lodoxamide.The data indicate that administration of an orally active mast cell release inhibitor can decrease the rate of alveolar bone loss which occurs in beagle periodontitis. However, the clinical usefulness of this pharmacologic agent is not clear due to the increased tooth mobility which occurred in this study. Since the principle effect of lodoxamide ethyl is believed to be on mast cell degranulation, a role for mast cells in beagle alveolar bone loss is implied.