INDICATORS OF COLLAGEN METABOLISM, CONTENT OF MICRO- AND MACRO ELEMENTS AS BIOMARKERS FOR PREDICTING CHANGES IN DENTAL STATUS IN RATS WITH EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED FETAL MACROSOMIA
Authors: Garmash Olga , Sokolova Iryna , Cherepynska Yuliya , Ryabokon Eugene , Gubina-Vakulik Galina 
Published: July 2024

Diseases that manifest in adult life are largely "pre-programmed" already in utero. Fetal macrosomia defined as a body weight at birth of 4.000 grams or more is a condition associated with a range of immediate and long-term consequences.
Objective. This study is focused on determining the indicators of collagen metabolism and the exchange of micro- and macroelements in the blood serum of experimental animals born macrosomic. The aim is to establish if any of prognostic markers for the emergence of dental disorders can be found.
Material and Methods. Rats of Wistar Albino Glaxo population born with induced macrosomia were used as the test animals. The markers for connective tissue metabolism (free and bound oxyproline) as well as levels of calcium, potassium, copper, magnesium, and zinc were analyzed in the serum of 104 rats in total. The animals were divided into groups immediately after birth according to their weight-height parameters and were sacrificed on the 1st, 90th, 180th, 360th, and 540th day after their birth.
Research Results. In the blood serum of animals born macrosomic but with a relative insufficiency of body weight (a weight-height index was lower than that in the control group), as well as in animals with «harmonious intrauterine development» (a weight-height index was comparable with that in the control group), a decrease in copper concentrations by 5–20% and decrease in magnesium levels by 20–40% were registered. Also, reduction by factor 1.4 of the bound fraction of oxyproline and an increase of no more than by factor 1.7 of its free fraction were found. Such biochemical changes precede the formation of periodontal disease.
In animals born with "intrauterine obesity" (a weight-height index was higher than that in the control group) and who had the highest intensity of caries among all animals, biochemical changes emerged at an earlier stages of the monitored lifespan. In the serum of such animals, a decrease in magnesium levels by 13–38%, a decrease in zinc by 4–12%, and an increase of up to 11% in copper levels were found. A reduction in the bound fraction of hydroxyproline by factor 1.2–1.4 and an increase in its free fraction by factor 1.4–2.6 were also observed.
According to the performed correlation analysis, the significance of the relationship (degree of correlation or anticorrelation and their reliability) between the studied indicators and caries was proven to increase for older animals.
Conclusion: In animals born macrosomic, mineral metabolism as well as significant changes of in the organic component in their connective tissue leading to alterations in the bone tissue of the periodontium and the hard tooth tissues. Biochemical changes in the blood serum of rats precede the development of periodontal tissue diseases and carious lesions in ontogeny and depend on the weight-height parameters of the animals at birth.