Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

February 25- March 3, 2013United Kingdom Edition12 Perio Tribune A ccording to new re- search published in the Journal of Periodontal Research, the antibacterial properties of blackberry ex- tract could help to prevent or aid in the treatment of gum disease, which, if left untreat- ed, may result in tooth loss. Natural extract from black- berries have previously been linked with blocking the spread of cancer cells, and showed the greatest total an- tioxidant capacity when meas- ured against blueberry, rasp- berry, red currant, and both cultivated and wild strawber- ries. Blackberries join a grow- ing list of foods that could help prevent oral health problems. Strawberries and green veg- etables have been linked to reducing the chance of devel- oping oral cancer, while other studies have discovered fish and fish oil can fight gum dis- ease. Chief Executive of the Brit- ish Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, thinks the research highlights the importance of indulging in a healthy, balanced diet. Dr Carter says: “Having a balanced diet rich in vitamins, minerals and fresh produce to provide anti-oxidants is some- thing we should all be striving to achieve. It can help to pre- vent a number of oral health problems including gum dis- ease and oral cancer, not to mention potential heart prob- lems too. “Although the study is promising, it is important to remember that any use of blackberries in prevent- ing and treating gum disease should be as well as main- taining a good oral hygiene routine. Prevention is a re- ally important word when it comes to oral health and it is fairly easy to keep on top of. It does not take up too much time or a lot of money, yet it is surprising how many peo- ple actually forego basic oral hygiene principles, includ- ing brushing for two minutes twice a day.” DT Blackberries could prevent and treat gum disease Blackberry extract could treat gum diease A new research report published in the Jour- nal of Leukocyte Biology shows how the bacteria known for causing gum disease, Por- phyromonas gingivalis, ma- nipulates the body’s immune system to disable normal pro- cesses that would otherwise destroy it. Specifically, the report shows that this pathogen prompts the production of the anti-inflammatory molecule Interleukin-10 (IL-10). This, in turn, inhibits the function of T- cells, which would otherwise help to protect the host from this particular microbial infec- tion. To make this discovery, sci- entists used cells from mice that were exposed to P. gingi- valis. One portion of the cells was treated with an inhibiting antibody against IL-10 and the other portion of cells was not treated. All of the cells were then tested for interferon gam- ma production. An increase of interferon gamma production was seen in the treated cells, but no increase was found in the untreated cells. These findings suggest that the damage done by P. gingi- valis happens when the im- mune cells of the host are first exposed to this pathogen, and further implies that for treat- ment to be successful, it must be started as early as possible. This study highlights the mech- anism by which P. gingivalis can establish a chronic infec- tion in the form of periodontal disease and provides insight into how the disease develops. Results also demonstrate the importance of very early in- tervention either by eradication of the bacterium with specifi- cally designed therapeutics or by prevention via the develop- ment of an effective vaccine. “Gum diseases and the in- fections that cause them can be incredibly stubborn and dif- ficult to treat,” said John Wher- ry, Ph.D., Deputy Editor of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology. “What isn’t as well known is why these infections are so dif- ficult to eradicate. These new studies now demonstrate that these bacteria go beyond mere- ly evading our body’s defenses and actually manipulate our immune systems for their own survival.” DT Gingivitis bacteria manipulates immune system S cientists at the Texas Bio- medical Research Institute have found that moderate gum disease in an animal model exposed to an AIDS- like virus had more viral variants causing infection and greater inflamma- tion. Both of these features have potential negative implications in long term disease progres- sion, including other kinds of infections, says the report pub- lished in the Journal of Virology. The public health message from the study is that even mild inflammation in the mouth needs to be controlled because it can lead to more serious con- sequences, said Luis Giavedoni, first author of the study. “After infection with the sim- ian AIDS virus, the generalised acute inflammation induced by the virus was exacerbated in the animals with gingivitis, indicat- ing that even mild localised in- flammation can lead to a more severe systemic inflammation,” he said. Giavedoni and his colleagues studied whether inflammation of the mouth would increase the susceptibility of the mon- keys becoming infected with the monkey AIDS virus. This was based on epidemiological evi- dence that shows that infection and inflammation of the genital mucosa increases the chances of becoming infected with HIV by the sexual route. The scientists induced mod- erate gum inflammation in a group of monkeys, while a second group without gum in- flammation served as a control. After exposing both groups of macaques to infectious SIV, a monkey virus similar to AIDS, they did not observe differences in the rate of infection in the mouth, indicating that moder- ate gum disease did not increase the chances of getting infected with the AIDS virus. “However, we did observe that the animals that had gum inflammation and got infected had more viral variants causing infection and they also showed augmented systemic inflam- mation after infection; both of these findings may negatively affect the progression of the vi- ral infection.” Giavedoni said. DT Gum disease may worsen AIDS L ong-term data pub- lished in Diabetes Re- search and Clinical Practice has provided further scientific evidence that people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have a great risk of periodontitis. The researchers have sent over 50,000 males biennial questionnaires since 1988, and from their data found that “at baseline, men with T2DM were more likely to report hypertension, were missing more teeth, consumed less al- cohol, and were less likely to be dentists than those with- out.” Risk of periodontitis was found to be 39 per cent high- er in men with T2DM than in men without. T2DM was also associated with a 22 per cent increased risk of tooth loss compared with those without. “In this study with 20 years follow-up, T2DM was signifi- cantly associated with greater risk of self-reported periodon- titis”, the study authors wrote. “These results hold im- portant public health implica- tions due to the associations between periodontitis and cardiovascular disease and nutritional alterations associ- ated with tooth loss. Greater collaboration between diabe- tes care providers and dentists could be used to identify at- risk patients in both clinical settings.” DT Study links periodontitis with diabetes T2DM is associated with a greater risk of periodontitis