Effect of Periodontal Pathogens on Total Bone Volume Fraction: A Phenotypic Study

This study aimed to further explore the effect of periodontal pathogens on bone volume fraction like bone tissue and mass, and explain the relationship between PD and osteoporosis. Sprague Dawley rats (female, 16 weeks old) were divided into the wild-type (WT) control group (n=9) and PD group (n=9). After eight weeks, periodontal tissues and ligatures, the fourth lumbar vertebra, the femur, the tibia, and blood were extracted and analyzed by micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), respectively. We found that the bone mass of the lumbar vertebra, femur, and tibia was decreased in the PD group. The number of osteoclasts was higher in bone tissue in the PD group than in the WT group (P<0.05). The levels of inflammatory mediators and type I collagen C-terminal peptide (CTX-1) were higher in the PD group than in the WT group (P<0.05), although no significant difference in bone glutamic acid protein (BGP) levels was observed (P>0.05). In addition, we detected several periodontal pathogens, such asPorphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, andFusobacterium nucleatum, in blood samples from rats in the PD group. These findings suggest that periodontal pathogens can enter the blood circulation from periodontal tissue, promote a systemic inflammation response, and subsequently reduce systemic bo...
Source: Journal of Huazhong University of Science and Technology -- Medical Sciences -- - Category: Research Source Type: research