Influence of the association of caffeine and nicotine on the osseointegration of titanium implants

• Grant number: 24/20508-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry - Periodontology
• Principal Investigator: Juliano Milanezi de Almeida
• Grantee: Gabrielle de Sousa Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia (FOA). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Araçatuba. Araçatuba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the osseointegration of titanium implants placed in the tibias of rats, systemically modified or not by Caffeine (CAF) combined or not with Nicotine (NIC). A total of 60 rats will be used, distributed into three experimental groups (n=20). The animals will receive caffeine at a dose of 20 mg/kg daily (once per day) and nicotine at a dose of 3 mg/kg (twice daily) by gavage throughout the experimental period. Four weeks after the start of solution administration, implants will be bilaterally placed in the tibia. Ten animals from each group will be euthanized in the 6th and 8th weeks, with the right and left tibias collected for histological, histometric, and immunohistochemical analyses. The histological analysis will describe the bone tissue characteristics in the titanium implant thread region and the bone/implant interface areas. For the histometric analysis, the following evaluation criteria will be adopted: Direct Contact (DC) of bone tissue with the implant surface relative to the Total Length (TL) of the implant threads (mm); Newly Formed Bone Area (NFBA) relative to the Total Area (TA) within the boundaries of the implant threads (mm²); and immunohistochemistry for detection of RUNX2, OCN, and TRAP. Analyses will be performed on both sides of the implant, in the cervical, middle, and apical thirds. Quantitative data will be subjected to parametric or non-parametric statistical analyses with a significance level of 5%.