Study of malarial chemoprophylaxis and pregnancy gingivitis in Nigerian women.

Resolution of pregnancy gingivitis during pregnancy despite the usual therapy of scaling has not proved to be satisfactory. A clinical study of pregnancy gingivitis in 55 pregnant women (23 primigravid, 32 multigravid) showed pyrimethamine prophylaxis had a significant positive effect in the resolution of gingivitis during pregnancy. At the end of the gestation period, pregnant women who received pyrimethamine as malarial chemoprophylaxis showed significant improvements, as compared with placebo, in relation to gingival bleeding and enlargement, whether primigravid or multigravid. These clinical observations suggest that pyrimethamine may exhibit properties that may be inflammatory, act as immune enhancer and antihyperplastic agent by probably possessing an antagonistic effect upon nucleic acid synthesis.