| Summary: | Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced angiogenesis contributes to inflammatory bone resorption in humans. Widely documented antagonists to resorption include antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of these drugs on proangiogenic VEGF levels in periradicular lesions. Periapical tissue biopsies were obtained from 42 patients with chronic periapical periodontitis. VEGF levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit in patients divided into groups according to treatment: no drugs (control group, <i>n</i> = 25), NSAIDs (<i>n</i> = 7), antibiotics (<i>n</i> = 5), and NSAIDs and antibiotics (<i>n</i> = 5). Reverse transcriptase (RT) reaction was performed in all the samples under analysis. Presence of <i>VEGFA</i> and <i>VEGFB</i> gene expression was assessed using reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). ELISA analysis indicated that average VEGF levels in tissue samples of patients treated with NSAIDs (6.097 ± 1.930 ng/mL), antibiotics (5.661 ± 2.395 ng/mL), and NSAIDs and antibiotics (7.142 ± 2.601 ng/mL) were significantly lower than in samples of control patients (10.432 ± 4.257 ng/mL, ANOVA <i>p</i> = 0.008). The RT-PCR did not reveal <i>VEGFA</i> gene expression in any of the 42 samples. <i>VEGFB</i> gene expression was found in 26 of 42 samples (69.1%). The use of NSAIDs or antibiotics in patients with exacerbated chronic periodontitis decreases VEGF levels in periapical tissues. Pharmacotherapy may minimize the effects of VEGF on apical periodontitis progression in that way.
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