[Risk factors that modulate periodontal diseases].
Periodontal diseases now is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by Gram negative bacterial infection. Recently, it is of interest to evaluate risk factors that modulate initiation and development of this disease. A recent study have suggested that obesity is one of the risk factors. In this regard, most recently, we found that leptin, a regulator of food intake and whole-body energy metabolism, acts as a negative regulator of LPS-induced expression of inflammatory cytokines of macrophages via inhibition of NF-kB.
Hanazawa
S
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Division of Oral Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Dental Science, Kyushu University.