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. 2020 Oct;91 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S45-S49.
doi: 10.1002/JPER.20-0104. Epub 2020 Aug 6.

Porphyromonas gingivalis and Alzheimer disease: Recent findings and potential therapies

Mark I Ryder  1
Affiliations

Porphyromonas gingivalis and Alzheimer disease: Recent findings and potential therapies

Mark I Ryder. J Periodontol. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Epidemiological studies have identified an association between periodontitis and Alzheimer disease (AD); however, the nature of this association has been unclear. Recent work suggests that brain colonization by the periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis may link these two inflammatory and degenerative conditions. Evidence of P. gingivalis infiltration has been detected in autopsy specimens from the brains of people with AD and in cerebrospinal fluid of individuals diagnosed with AD. Gingipains, a class of P. gingivalis proteases, are found in association with neurons, tau tangles, and beta-amyloid in specimens from the brains of individuals with AD. The brains of mice orally infected with P. gingivalis show evidence of P. gingivalis infiltration, along with various neuropathological hallmarks of AD. Oral administration of gingipain inhibitors to mice with established brain infections decreases the abundance of P. gingivalis DNA in brain and mitigates the neurotoxic effects of P. gingivalis infection. Thus, gingipain inhibition could provide a potential approach to the treatment of both periodontitis and AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer disease; COR388; Porphyromonas gingivalis; gingipain; neuroinflammation; periodontitis.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
P. gingivalis can invade the periodontal tissues through the sulcular epithelium, gaining entry into the periodontal microcirculation where it can then spread through the bloodstream and colonize the brain. [Credit: Heather McDonald, BioSerendipity, LLC, Elkridge, MD]
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
P. gingivalis gingipains localized in inflamed gingiva and the hippocampus region of an AD brain. Scale bar = 50 μm. Reprinted from Dominy et al.,28 which was published (and can be reproduced) under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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