Impact of prenatal dexamethasone exposure on root formation

Abstract

Objective: To determine the effect of chronic prenatal exposure to dexamethasone on root vascular resistance (RVR) and root formation in suckling rats.

 Methodology: Female Wistar rats, 2-3 months old, will be randomly assigned to two groups: experimental (E), which will receive weekly intramuscular injections of 7 mg/kg of dexamethasone (Decadron, Sidus, Argentina) for 5 weeks, and control (C), which will receive physiological saline solution under the same conditions as E. At 6 weeks, the rats will be mated. After confirmation of mating, the pregnant rats will continue to receive the weekly injection corresponding to each experimental group until the birth of the pups, which will be euthanized at 15 days of age. The resected hemimandibles will be processed for histological, histomorphometric, and immunohistochemical studies of human rhizobacteria (HRV) and root dental tissues. Data will be analyzed using Student's t-test, considering p < 0.05 as statistically significant.

Expected Results: This project aims to understand the effect of chronic prenatal exposure to dexamethasone on root formation concurrent with tooth eruption, in order to translate this finding into clinical outcomes in the short, medium, and long term.