Associação da doença de Alzheimer e periodontite: há confirmação?

Abstract

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory infection / symptom of the oral cavity, identified as a source of inflammatory mediators in the blood, which can lead to the worsening of many diseases. There is growing evidence that inflammation plays a key role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although inflammation exists in both diseases, little is known about the exact mechanism and cross-link between periodontitis and AD. Porphyromonas gingivalis, a key pathogen in chronic periodontitis, has been identified in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. A toxic protease from a bacterium called gingipains has also been found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease, the level of which is related to the pathology of tau and ubiquitin. Oral infection by Porphyromonas gingivalis in experiments with mice led to colonization of the brain and increased production of Aβ1-42, a component of amyloid plaques. To prevent this neurotoxicity, small molecule inhibitors for gums were designed and synthesized. The present work aims to characterize AD and periodontitis, to correlate the two immunopathological mechanisms and to verify how the presence of periodontitis affects the development of AD.