An Evaluation of Minocycline-HCl in Patients With Chronic Periodontitis

Objectives: Antimicrobial agents have a rationale for their use that come from the understanding that periodontitis is an infection caused by spesific bacteria. Thus, therapy should be directed at the elimination of these pathogens in order to achieve a state of health. Systemically administrated minocyclines are often adjunctive treatments of periodontal disease. Minocycline is a tetracycline with antibacterial activity against some gram-negative and gram-positive organisms. The action is primarily bacteriostatic and it is thought to exert its antimicrobial effect by the inhibition of protein synthesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of minocycline-HCl (MinocinMR), on blood chemistry and blood counts and changes in periodontal health. Methods: The study group consisted of 25 adults with chronic periodontitis. The blood chemistry and blood counts, plaque index, sulcus bleeding index, probing pocket depth were measured before and after the administration of the drug that was prescibed to be used 100 mg/day orally for 8 days period. All parameters were evaluated at baseline and at the 8th day. The differences of the means of all data were analysed with paired sample t test. Results: All clinical parameters demonstrated statistically significant improvements from baseline to the 8th day (p<0,05) and, there were not statistically significant changes on blood counts and blood chemistry between baseline and 8th day (p>0,05). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that, Minocycline-Hcl administration resulted in non- significant changes in blood chemistry and blood counts, and significant changes were obtained in periodontal health.