Gum disease has been linked to hardening of the arteries for nearly a decade, and scientists have long fingered a gang of oral bacteria as the obvious suspects behind many cases of the vessel-clogging killer.
Now University of Florida researchers have cornered the bacterial ringleaders of gum disease inside human artery-clogging plaque — the first concrete evidence to place the pathogens at the heart of the circulatory crime scene. Their report appears in the current issue of Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.
“Our finding is important because it has proved there are live periodontal bacteria in human atherosclerotic tissue,” said study investigator Ann Progulske-Fox, Ph.D., a professor of oral biology at the UF College of Dentistry. “Now we can begin to understand how these bacteria contribute to the disease process.”
The oral bacteria UF researchers found in the plaque, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, are two of the most aggressive offenders in periodontal disease, the leading cause of adult tooth loss. Because of the strong association between periodontal and cardiovascular diseases, scientists have postulated for years that oral pathogens contribute to arterial damage that leads to heart attack or stroke, which kill nearly a million Americans a year. In fact, a recent study conducted elsewhere found a direct correlation between the amount of periodontal bacteria in the mouth and the formation of blockages in the carotid artery in the neck.
“Our finding is important because it has proved there are live periodontal bacteria in human atherosclerotic tissue,” said study investigator Ann Progulske-Fox, Ph.D., a professor of oral biology at the UF College of Dentistry. “Now we can begin to understand how these bacteria contribute to the disease process.”
The oral bacteria UF researchers found in the plaque, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, are two of the most aggressive offenders in periodontal disease, the leading cause of adult tooth loss. Because of the strong association between periodontal and cardiovascular diseases, scientists have postulated for years that oral pathogens contribute to arterial damage that leads to heart attack or stroke, which kill nearly a million Americans a year. In fact, a recent study conducted elsewhere found a direct correlation between the amount of periodontal bacteria in the mouth and the formation of blockages in the carotid artery in the neck.
No comments:
Post a Comment