the role of cyclosporine a on the periodontal tissues

background: cyclosporin a (csa) is a known immunosuppressive agent and can be considered as a lifesaving drug in the organ transplantation cases. however, it is associated with many side-effects on different tissues and body organs including the periodontal tissues. the present animal study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of csa targeting the tissue triad of periodontal tissues, i.e., gingiva, alveolar bone and cementum in rats. materials and methods: twelve 6-week-old male wistar rats weighing 150-200 g were considered for the case-control study in rats. the rats were divided into 2 groups: (1) csa (test) group (2) saline (control) group and were administered the same subcutaneously daily once for 45 days. impressions were taken and study casts were prepared on weekly basis for the morphometric analysis. at the end of 45 days, rats were sacrificed and specimens were analyzed for histomorphometric analysis. csa and saline groups were analyzed to test of association using the student t -test at 99% confidence interval. results: the morphometric examination showed significant gingival overgrowth in the csa group, whereas no such growth in the saline group. similarly, on histomorphometric analysis, there was a significant loss of alveolar bone in csa group as compared with control. furthermore, there was large amount of cementum formation accompanied by insertion of new connective tissue fibers especially in the cervical region of the tooth in csa group rats. conclusion: csa targets the periodontal tissues (gingiva, alveolar bone and cementum) in different pattern. its role in cementogenesis can be utilized for periodontal regeneration, if its local application is testified and verified in the future animal studies. key words: alveolar bone loss, cyclosporin a, gingival overgrowth, new cementum formation