Myricitrin: A promising herbal therapy for periodontitis in immunosuppressed status

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis is a complex chronic inflammatory disease aggravated in immunosuppressed patients. However, adjuvant therapies can alleviate severe inflammation and slow down disease progression. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of myricitrin, a herbal flavonoid glycoside, in reducing immunosuppression-associated periodontitis and compare its effects with that of alendronate on alveolar bone regeneration. METHODS: Fifty albino Wistar rats were randomly allocated to the control, periodontitis, immunosuppressant, myricitrin, and alendronate groups. Ligature-associated periodontitis was induced in all groups, except the control group. Cyclosporin A (CsA) was administered subcutaneously in the immunosuppressant group for immunosuppression. The myricitrin group received CsA and myricitrin, whereas the alendronate group received CsA and alendronate. The therapeutic efficacies of myricitrin and alendronate were compared histologically, morphometrically, and biochemically. RESULTS: Myricitrin reversed bone destruction in the periodontitis and immunosuppressant groups. Morphometrically, myricitrin showed comparable improvements to alendronate in terms of gaining more bone area to 49.4 ± 4.6 and 59.5 ± 2%, respectively (P < 0.001 in relation to the untreated periodontitis group). Concomitantly, myricitrin increased osteoblast count significantly to 28.4 ± 4.7 closer to the 34.5 ± 2.4 count in the alendronate group (P < 0.001 compared with 22.5 ± 2.6 count of the immunosuppressant group). Moreover, myricitrin restored the serum calcium to 9.4 ± 0.6 mg/dL and alkaline phosphatase up to 112.9 ± 2.9 IU/L, which were almost normal levels similar to the control cohort (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Myricitrin showed beneficial effects in counteracting bone resorption in subjects with immunosuppression-associated periodontitis. Its efficacy in slowing down disease progression was comparable to that of alendronate.