Conclusions
Diabetes mellitus induces morphological and epigenetic changes in periodontal tissue, which might contribute to the increased susceptibility of periodontal diseases in patients with diabetes.
Methods
We studied the effect of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in minipigs on gingival morphological and epigenetic tissue changes. Accordingly, we randomly divided six minipigs into two groups: streptozotocin-induced diabetes group, n = 3; and non-diabetes healthy control group, n = 3. After 85 days, all animals were killed, and gingival tissue was collected for histology, deoxyribonucleic acid methylation analysis and immunohistochemistry.
Results
A diabetes mellitus model was successfully created, as evidenced by significantly increased blood glucose levels, reduction of pancreatic insulin-producing β-cells and histopathological changes in the kidneys. The gingival tissues in the diabetes group presented acanthosis of both gingival squamous epithelium and sulcular/junctional epithelium, and a significant reduction in the number and length of rete pegs. Deoxyribonucleic acid methylation analysis showed a total of 1,163 affected genes, of which 599 and 564 were significantly hypermethylated and hypomethylated, respectively. Immunohistochemistry staining showed that the hypomethylated genes - tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 - were positively expressed under the junctional epithelium area in the diabetes group. Conclusions: Diabetes mellitus induces morphological and epigenetic changes in periodontal tissue, which might contribute to the increased susceptibility of periodontal diseases in patients with diabetes.