Background: Periodontitis, an inflammation that causes alveolar bone destruction, is caused by bacteria and aggravated by nicotine exposure and is therefore a disease that many smokers have. Antibacterial agents are essential for the rejuvenation process in periodontitis treatment; antimicrobial peptide (AMP) gel is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent that is hardly cause bacteria resistance. Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine the effect of AMP gel administration on neutrophil and macrophage counts on periodontitis regeneration in nicotine-exposed rats. Methods: 24 Wistar rats were separated into four groups: nicotineexposed, non-nicotine-exposed, treatment and control. Rats with periodontitis were given AMP in the gingival line on days 1, 3 and 7 after having their mandibular central incisors ligated for 14 days to induce periodontitis. After AMP treatment, two groups of rats were collected randomly. Each group were decapitated, followed by treatment and histological examination with hematoxylin-eosin staining in the pathology laboratory to view neutrophils and macrophages. The asymmetric Kruskal Wallis test was used to analyse the data. Results: In mice treated with AMP, neutrophil counts on day 3 were lower than in distilled water (Aquadest) controls. The number of macrophages on day 3 was higher than that of the Aquadest control. Kruskal Wallis test results for neutrophils were p = 0.017 and for macrophages p = 0.01, where both test results had p < 0.05, there were significant differences between the neutrophil and macrophage groups. Conclusion: The administration of AMP effects on decreasing the number of neutrophils and enhancing macrophages in the periodontitis regeneration. in nicotine-exposed rats.

Nicotine, a major component of tobacco, is a significant contributing factor for the exacerbation of periodontal diseases. Periodontitis, one of the periodontal diseases, leads to alveolar bone damage triggered by bacteria and exacerbated by nicotine exposure as mostly suffered by smokers. Periodontitis treatment requires an antibacterial for the regeneration process; antimicrobial peptide gel (AMP) has a broad-spectrum antimicrobial that is rarely resistant. This study aims to determine the effect of antimicrobial peptide gel on the regeneration process of periodontitis in rat models exposed to nicotine by observing the number of angiogenesis and fibroblast cells. Twenty-four Wistar rats were divided into four groups based on nicotine exposure, the control group and treated rats. Periodontitis was induced by ligation on the mandibular central incisor for 14 days, and the periodontitis rats were treated with AMP on their sulcus of gingiva on day 1, 3, and 7. On day 3, 7, and 14 after treatment, two rats were taken randomly in each group for decapitation, followed by histological processing and examination with Hematoxylin-Eosin. The non-parametric statistic test of Kruskal-Wallis revealed that the value of p=0,000 for angiogenesis and p=0,001 for fibroblast showed significant difference (p <0,05 ) between the treated and control groups in both groups with and without exposure to nicotine. Conclusion: The high number of angiogenesis and fibroblast cells in treated rats indicated that the Antimicrobial Peptide Gel successfully accelerated periodontitis' regeneration process in rat models exposed to nicotine.