Posted on 02/26/2023 1:35:12 PM PST by ConservativeMind
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which causes painful swelling of the joints, is a form of autoimmune disease where otherwise healthy tissue in a patient's joint gets mistaken for an intruder and is attacked by the immune system. Past observational studies have confirmed a correlation between patients with RA and higher levels of periodontal disease (gum disease).
Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPAs) are found in the blood of most patients with RA. Gum disease is specifically more common in individuals with RA who also have ACPAs in their blood.
In a study, researchers wanted to investigate whether these overlapping observations could be better connected.
They identified RNA signatures within clusters of activated immune cells that correlated with both the presence of oral bacteria in the blood and with flares of arthritis in patients with both RA and periodontal disease.
The bacteria were found to be citrullinated (enzymatically altered), and this alteration provided the targets for the anti-citrullinated protein antibodies to attack, as well as increasing the number of antibodies responding. Researchers further found the bacteria to be already citrullinated in oral samples.
The researchers wanted to know whether the bacteria were causing the immune response, or if the RA was causing the response to the bacteria.
So, they took a more causational approach and attempted to directly trigger similar gene expression responses in vitro. Oral bacteria isolated from healthy individuals were pooled with blood from healthy individuals, and researchers looked for the presence of specific RNA compared to that of RA patients.
They detected robust expression of the specific RNA after six and 20 hours, illustrating that not only can oral bacteria induce systemic inflammatory response if they find their way into the blood, but that the response is not specific to patients with existing RA.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Heart/cardio issues are an even larger concern with dental issues.
bkmk
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.