Ebru OLGUN, Oğuz KUL, Nuray ERCAN, Hasan Tarık ATMACA, Tuğce ANTEPLIOĞLU
Meandros Medical and Dental Journal - 2026;27(1):58-68
Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of folic acid (FA) supplementation on endothelial damage caused by periodontitis. Materials and Methods: 48 rats were divided randomly into five groups: healthy control, sham control, lipopolysaccharide-induced periodontitis (LPS), lipopolysaccharide-induced periodontitis with low-dose FA (4 mg/kg) (LPS+4), and high-dose FA (12 mg/kg) (LPS+12) administered groups. Rats were euthanized after 15 days of the first lipopolysaccharide injection. Circulating progenitor cells taken from each rat's blood samples were counted using flow cytometry. ADMA, CD34+, and CD133+ expression in periodontal and cardiac tissues were labeled by using immunoperoxidase method. Results: There were no differences among the groups regarding ADMA expression in periodontal tissues. However, the LPS group exhibited the highest expression levels of CD34+ and CD133+, which were significantly elevated compared to those in the healthy group. Statistically significant differences in all biomarkers were observed among the groups in the cardiac tissue. Flow cytometry analysis results did not differ in ADMA expression level, but CD34+ and CD133+ expression levels were statistically significant between groups. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that periodontitis induces an increase in the expression of endothelial biomarkers, while folic acid supplementation exerts a beneficial effect on periodontitis-associated endothelial dysfunction.
