Increased Anxiety-Like Behavior in the Acute Phase of a Preclinical Model of Periodontal Disease

Abstract

Periodontal disease (PD) is an infectious-inflammatory oral disease that is highly prevalent among adolescence and adulthood and can lead to chronic orofacial pain and be associated with anxiety, stress and depression. This study aimed to identify anxiety-like behaviors in the ligature-induced murine preclinical model of PD in different phases of the disease (i.e., acute vs. chronic). Also, we investigated orofacial mechanical allodynia thresholds and superficial cortical plasticity along the orofacial motor cortex in both disease phases. To this aim, 25 male Wistar rats were randomly allocated in acute (14 days) or chronic (28 days) ligature-induced-PD groups and further divided into active-PD or sham-PD. Anxiety-like behavior was evaluated using the elevated plus maze, mechanical allodynia assessed using the von Frey filaments test and superficial motor cortex mapping was performed with electrical transdural stimulation. We observed increased anxiety-like behavior in active-PD animals in the acute phase, characterized by decreased number of entries into the open arm extremities [t(1,7) = 2.42, p = 0.04], and reduced time spent in the open arms [t(1,7) = 3.56, p = 0.01] and in the open arm extremities [t(1,7) = 2.75, p = 0.03]. There was also a reduction in the mechanical allodynia threshold in all active-PD animals [Acute: t(1,7) = 8.81, p < 0.001; Chronic: t(1,6) = 60.0, p < 0.001], that was positively correlated with anxiety-like behaviors in the acute group. No differences were observed in motor cortex mapping. Thus, our findings show the presence of anxiety-like behaviors in the acute phase of PD making this a suitable model to study the impact of anxiety in treatment response and treatment efficacy.

The Role of the Oral Microbiota Related to Periodontal Diseases in Anxiety, Mood and Trauma- and Stress-Related Disorders

“…Recently, anxiety-like behaviors [assessed using the elevated plusmaze (EPM)] have been reported in Wistar rats submitted to a ligature-induced pre-clinical model of periodontitis in the acute phase (14 days), but not in the chronic phase (28 days) of the disease (82), stressing the importance of timing in this type of longitudinal study to assess anxiety-like defensive behavioral responses, and other behaviors relevant to psychiatric disorders, in an animal model of periodontitis.…”

Codon Pattern and Compositional Constraints Determination of Genes Associated with Chronic Periodontitis

“…Diabetes coupled with CP increases cardiorenal mortality risk [ 5 ]. The CP patients demonstrated significant endothelial dysfunction [ 56 ], and epidemiological studies revealed a close association between periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases [ 7 ], liver diseases [ 8 ], rheumatoid arthritis [ 57 ], alopecia areata [ 10 ], anxiety-like behaviors [ 11 ], respiratory diseases [ 12 ], and neuropathy in diabetic patients [ 58 ]. Our study provides information regarding molecular signatures, gene expression patterns, protein properties, codon usage, codon bias, information regarding codons influencing codon usage to various extents, and dinucleotide pattern.…”

“…Chronic periodontitis (CP) negatively influences glycemic control, and diabetes coupled with CP enhances the risk of cardiorenal mortality [ 5 ]. The CP patients demonstrate significant endothelial dysfunction [ 6 ], and studies revealed a close association between periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases [ 7 ], liver diseases [ 8 ], rheumatoid arthritis [ 9 ], alopecia areata [ 10 ], anxiety-like behaviors [ 11 ], respiratory diseases [ 12 ], and neuropathy in diabetic patients [ 13 ]. In addition, studies have shown that CP enhances the risk of preeclampsia in pregnant women [ 14 ].…”

Influence of Depression and Anxiety on Non-Surgical Periodontal Treatment Outcomes: A 6-Month Prospective Study

“…It is worth noting that anxiety can lead to behavioral changes that might worsen treatment outcomes, or, in a worst case scenario, lead to treatment interruption [43][44][45][46]. In a murine model of ligature-induced periodontitis, the presence of anxiety-like behaviors was observed in the acute phase of periodontitis, highlighting a potential role for such a psychological trait or state in the pathological process [47]. Here, the association between STAI scores and periodontal parameters evolution was observed.…”