Evaluation Through the Optical Coherence Tomography Analysis of the Influence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease on the Gingival Inflammation in Periodontal Patients.

Purpose: The purpose of this ex vivo study is to exhibit the inflammatory changes that occur within the gingival tissue by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in periodontal patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and if NAFLD could influence the local periodontal inflammation.
Patients and Methods: Gingival tissue samples obtained from patients were divided into three groups - P (periodontitis), NAFLD+P (NAFLD+periodontitis) and H (healthy) groups - and were scanned using an OCT light beam, in order to perform a qualitative and quantitative analysis of images. The value of average pixel density has been associated with the degree of inflammation.
Results: The highest average pixel density was found in patients from the H group, while the lowest value of average pixel density was recorded in gingival tissue samples collected from patients with NAFLD+P. The image assessments from NAFLD+P group delivered lower values of average pixel density than those of P group, suggesting a possible influence of this disease on the inflammatory tissular changes produced by periodontal disease.
Conclusion: After comparing the OCT analysis results obtained for the three groups of patients, we can consider that NAFLD may be an aggravating factor for the inflammation of periodontal disease.
Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflicts of interest for this work.
(© 2021 Surlin et al.)