Protective role of flavonoid baicalin from Scutellaria baicalensis in periodontal disease pathogenesis: A literature review

Introduction: Periodontal disease is characterized by a chronic infection, leading to the irreversible destruction of tissues supporting the teeth. Bacteria, pro-inflammatory mediators and host immune response play important role in the progress of periodontal disease. Baicalin is a bioactive flavone extracted from the dry raw root of Scutellaria baicalensis, with pharmaceutical actions of anti-inflammation, anti-oxidants, anti-tumor, antivirus, and so on. The present review summarizes the efficacy of baicalin in periodontal treatment. Methods: A computer-based literature search was carried out using Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science to identify papers published until 2017. Keywords used in the search were baicalin/baicalein and various words related to periodontal disease (periodontal, periodontitis, periodontal tissue, gingival, gingivitis, gingival tissue, periodontal disease, gingival disease, gingiva, periodontium). Results: A total of 28 original studies were found, including 3 bacteriological studies, 7 zoological studies and 18 cytological studies. 15 of them were published in English and 13 of them were published in Chinese. Results from these 28 studies could not be pooled to conduct meta-analysis due to the heterogeneity. The pharmacological properties and mechanisms of baicalin for treating periodontal disease is mainly focused on five aspects: antibacterial effect on putative periodontopathic bacteria, protective effect on periodontal tissues, regulatory effect on pro-inflammatory mediators and matrix metalloproteinases, and regulatory effect on innate immune response. Conclusions: Baicalin have been shown to possess multiple pharmacological activities in periodontal tissues. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been fully defined. Further researches are needed to provide more scientific evidence for the clinical periodontal treatment.