Periodontitis and heart disease: Researchers connect the molecular dots

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/asfm-pah091115.php

Public Release: 11-Sep-2015
Periodontitis and heart disease: Researchers connect the molecular dots
American Society for Microbiology

Periodontitis is a risk factor for heart disease. Now a team of researchers has shown that a periodontal pathogen causes changes in gene expression that boost inflammation and atherosclerosis in aortic smooth muscle cells. The research is published ahead of print in Infection and Immunity, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

The circumstantial evidence that led to this study was ample. The periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, has also been found in coronary artery plaques of heart attack patients. And in two species of animal models, P. gingivalis has been shown to cause and accelerate formation of coronary and aortic atherosclerosis. The investigators, led by Torbjörn Bengtsson of the Department of Clinical Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden, showed how this happens.

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