Changes of X-ray images, microelement metabolism, and aminoacid composition of feline teeth in periodontitis

Adult cats presenting with spontaneously developed periodontitis showed the lower-than-normal content of Ag, Al, Bi, Cr, Mo, and Si in the periodontal bone tissue of both the mandible and the maxilla whereas the level of Co remained practically unaltered and that of Zn significantly decreased. The intraperitoneal administration of 14C-glycine and 35S-methionine resulted in an almost 2- and 1.5-fold increase of incorporation of radioactivity into the periodontal bone protein respectively compared with that observed in healthy animals. Variations of the calculated coefficient reflecting the relationship between the amount of microelements and the relative specific activity (RSA) of the labeled amino acids were less pronounced for Zn than for the remaining seven microelements. It was shown that Zn content in the periodontal bone tissue of the cats with periodontitis was significantly different from that of another microelements, and that this differ were partly attributable to the redistribution patterns of collagen and non-collagenous proteins in the periodontial bone. The fact is proteins of the periodontal bone contain more type 1 collagen in which each third amino acid is represented by glycine whereas the sulfur-containing amino acids are totally absent. In contrast, non-collagenous proteins contain less glycine together with a few percent of sulfur-containing amino acids including methionine.

microelements, 14C-glycine, 35S-methionine, periodontitis in cats, X-ray images of jaws and teeth