Treatment of Severe Periodontitis using Exosome-Mediated Combination Therapies: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Abstract

Purpose: This pilot retrospective case series aimed to evaluate the 6-month clinical outcomes and safety of a combined regenerative protocol utilizing exosomes specifically designed for periodontal regeneration (Periosomes), with 90% anorganic bovine bone/10% collagen (ABBMC), and horizontal platelet-rich fibrin (H-PRF) for the treatment of advanced periodontal osseous defects.

Materials and methods: This study analyzed stage-III (severe) periodontitis patients (from poor to hopeless prognosis) who underwent periodontal surgery using Periosomes with an ABBC/H-PRF scaffold with a 6-month follow-up. Complete periodontal charting, including probing depth (PD), gingival margin (GM), bleeding on probing (BOP), clinical attachment loss (CAL), gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), and tooth mobility, was assessed at baseline and the follow-up. The study included 13 patients (8 females and 5 males) aged 29 to 73 years, with 23 periodontal defects of one-walled (60.9%) and two-walled (39.1%) defect morphology.

Results: The sites treated with Periosomes showed statistically significant reductions in PD from baseline to six months in one-walled defects (8.50 ± 2.41 mm to 3.14 ± 0.77; p 0.0001) and two-walled defects (7.56 ± 1.13 mm to 3.22 ± 0.44; p 0.0001) as well as in CAL from 9.14 ± 3.01 mm to 4.79 ± 2.17 (p 0.0001) in one-walled defects and from 7.22 ± 1.56 mm to 3.56 ± 1.01 (p 0.0001) in and two-walled defects. Furthermore, frequency distribution analysis found that 96% of sites attained residual PD 5 mm and 92% showed CAL gains ≥3 mm at the 6-month follow-up.

Conclusion: The combined use of Periosomes, ABBMC, and H-PRF was associated with favorable short-term clinical improvements in advanced periodontal osseous defects with no reported adverse events. To our knowledge, this is the first human clinical study assessing the use of exosomes in periodontal regenerative therapy. However, controlled clinical trials with comparator groups and longer follow-up are necessary to evaluate the independent contribution of exosomes in periodontal regeneration.