Excessive caffeine intake increases bone resorption associated with periapical periodontitis in rats

Aim: To evaluate the effect of excessive caffeine intake on the inflammation/resorption processes associated with periapical periodontitis (PP) in rats. Methodology: Sixteen Wistar rats were used. Periapical periodontitis was induced in the four first molars in each animal. The animals were arranged into two groups: control (C)—rats with periapical periodontitis; and caffeine (CAF)—rats with periapical periodontitis under caffeine administration protocol. The CAF animals received 10 mg/100 g of body weight/day of caffeine via gavage starting fifteen days before PP induction and continuing for thirty more days until euthanasia. On the 30th day, the animals were euthanized and the jaws removed for microcomputed tomography, histological and immunohistochemical analysis for RANKL, OPG, TRAP, IL-10, TNF-⍺ and IL-1β. The Mann–Whitney test was performed for nonparametric data, and Student's t test was performed for parametric data, using p <.05. Results: There was no significant difference in the weight change between the groups. The median score of the inflammatory process was significantly greater in the CAF group (3) compared with the C group (2), p =.0256. Bone resorption was greater in the group consuming caffeine (1.08 ± 0.15 mm3) compared with the C group (0.88 ± 0.10 mm3), p =.0346. The immunolabelling for RANKL, TRAP and IL-1β was significantly higher in the CAF group when compared to the control, p <.05. No differences were found for the OPG, IL-10 and TNF-⍺ immunolabelling. Conclusion: Excessive caffeine exposure via gavage in rats was able to exacerbate the volume of periapical bone destruction, and the inflammatory pattern deriving from periapical periodontitis altering the expression of RANKL, IL-1β and TRAP.