Knock-on effect of periodontitis to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease?
Open Access
- 1 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Wiener klinische Wochenschrift
- Vol. 132 (17-18), 493-498
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s00508-020-01638-5
Abstract
Background Alzheimer's disease has chronic inflammatory components, which can be enhanced by systemic immune activation resulting in inflammation or vice versa. There is growing evidence that chronic periodontitis drives systemic inflammation and finally Alzheimer's disease. Thus, a link might exist between oral pathogens and Alzheimer's disease. This may be of special significance as there is an age-related incidence of chronic periodontitis. Methods In this study, 20 consecutive patients with probable Alzheimer's disease were investigated. Diagnosis was established by cognitive tests, routine laboratory tests and cerebral magnetic resonance tomography. In 35% of these patients with cognitive impairment pathogenic periodontal bacteria were found. Results The presence of Porphyromonas gingivalis, the key pathogen and one of the species involved in chronic periodontitis, was found to be associated with lower mini mental state examination scores (p & x202f;< 0.03) and with a tendency to lower scores in the clock drawing test (p & x202f;= 0.056). Furthermore, association between lower serum concentrations of the immune biomarker neopterin and the presence of Treponema denticola (p & x202f;< 0.01) as well as of kynurenine were found in Alzheimer patients positive vs. negative for Tannerella forsytia (p & x202f;< 0.05). Conclusions Data indicate a possible association of specific periodontal pathogens with cognitive impairment, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsytia may alter the host immune response in Alzheimer's disease. Albeit still preliminary, findings of the study may point to a possible role of an altered salivary microbiome as a causal link between chronic periodontitis and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's disease.Funding Information
- University of Innsbruck and Medical University of Innsbruck
This publication has 35 references indexed in Scilit:
- Serum IgG Antibody Levels to Periodontal Microbiota Are Associated with Incident Alzheimer DiseasePLOS ONE, 2014
- Bacterial Infection and Alzheimer's Disease: A Meta-AnalysisJournal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2014
- Periodontal disease associates with higher brain amyloid load in normal elderlyNeurobiology of Aging, 2014
- Cognitive decline, dietary factors and gut–brain interactionsMechanisms of Ageing and Development, 2014
- Assessment of viable periodontal pathogens by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reactionJournal of Periodontal Research, 2013
- Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation in Elderly Persons Is Associated with Altered Tryptophan and Tyrosine Metabolism: Role in Neuropsychiatric SymptomsBiological Psychiatry, 2011
- Monitoring tryptophan metabolism in chronic immune activationClinica Chimica Acta; International Journal of Clinical Chemistry, 2006
- Tryptophan degradation and immune activation in Alzheimer's diseaseJournal of Neural Transmission, 2000
- Visual evoked potentials and neopterin: biopterin ratios in urine show a high correlation in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 1988
- Tyrosine Hydroxylase, Tryptophan Hydroxylase, Biopterin, and Neopterin in the Brains of Normal Controls and Patients with Senile Dementia of Alzheimer TypeJournal of Neurochemistry, 1987