Association between Periodontal Health Status and Cognitive Abilities. The Role of Cytokine Profile and Systemic Inflammation.
Contemporary neurobiology, periodontal medicine, and immunology are now focusing on the relationship between chronic periodontitis and systemic diseases, which also include Alzheimer's disease (AD). However a causative relationship between dementia and periodontitis has yet to be confirmed.



The aim of the study was to determine whether periodontal health status and cognitive abilities are correlated with the relative changes in systemic measures of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines as a reflection of systemic inflammation. We hypothesized that poor periodontal health status may be associated with cognitive impairment and dementia via the exacerbation of systemic inflammation.



Based on the periodontal and psychiatric examinations and the cytokine levels produced by unstimulated and LPS-stimulated PBL isolated from 128 participants, we have examined if the coexisting of these two clinically described conditions may have influence on the systemic inflammation. Mini- Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Bleeding on Probing (BoP) test results were combined into the one mathematical function U, which determines the severity of specific condition, called Cognitive and periodontal impairment state. Similarly, the levels of cytokines were combined into the one mathematical function V, whose value determines the level of Inflammatory state. The correlation between U and V was determined.



These results confirm that the presence of cognitive decline and the additional source of proinflammatory mediators, like periodontal health problems, aggravate the systemic inflammation.



It is most likely that the comorbidity of these two disorders may deepen the cognitive impairment, and neurodegenerative lesions and advance to dementia and AD.
Laboratory of Virology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Weigla 12, 53-114 Wroclaw. Poland.
Marta
M
Sochocka
Department of Genomics, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw. Poland.
Maciej
M
Sobczyński
Department of Periodontology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw. Poland.
Aleksandra
A
Sender-Janeczek
Laboratory of Virology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw. Poland.
Katarzyna
K
Zwolińska
Laboratory of Virology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw. Poland.
Olga
O
Błachowicz
Laboratory of Virology, Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wroclaw. Poland.
Tomasz
T
Tomczyk
Department of Periodontology, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw. Poland.
Marek
M
Ziętek
Department of Psychiatry, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw. Poland.
Jerzy
J
Leszek
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000276:immunology; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D008297:Male; D000073216:Mental Status and Dementia Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology*
D016207:Cytokines; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides
Alzheimer's disease; Cognitive impairment; cytokines; dementia; periodontal disease; systemic inflammation