The effect of estrogen progesterone and cortisol on gingival inflammation

Two methods were used to induce gingival inflammation in squirrel monkeys (8 ovariectomized females and 3 males) with known levels of progesterone, estrogen and cortisol. Plasma progesterone and cortisol were assayed by a competitive binding technique. A bioassay of vaginal epithelium was used to assess estrogen activity. The ovariectomized animals were divided into two equal groups. Group I was injected with 10 mg progesterone and 0.2 mg estrogen twice daily for 50 days, producing elevated levels of these hormones. The remaining females (Group II) and the males (Group III) received vehicle for the same length of time. Regardless of the manner by which it was induced, gingival inflammation, as assessed by histometrics, was most severe in ovariectomized animals with no detectable progesterone and minimal estrogen (Group II). Group II, also, had lower levels of cortisol than the ovariectomized animals receiving progesterone and estrogen (Group I) and the males (Group III).