Oxidative damage of periodontal tissue in the rat periodontitis model: Effects of a high‐cholesterol diet

Studies suggest an association between consumption of a high-cholesterol diet and periodontitis. We addressed the mechanism by which high dietary cholesterol could be detrimental to periodontal health in a rat model. Feeding a high-cholesterol diet augmented the effects of bacterial pathogens and their products (e.g., lipopolysaccharide and proteases) on production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in fibroblasts. High dietary cholesterol also increased mitochondrial 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine in the periodontal tissues. These results suggest that excessive tissue oxidative damage induced by high dietary cholesterol could potentiate pro-inflammatory cytokine production by fibroblasts stimulated with bacterial pathogens.