Targeting epigenetic mechanisms in periodontal diseases

Epigenetic factors are heritable genome modifications that potentially impact gene transcription, contributing to disease states. Epigenetic marks play an important role in chronic inflammatory conditions, as observed in periodontal diseases, by allowing microbial persistence or by permitting microbial insult to play a role in the so-called 'hit-and-run' infectious mechanism, leading to lasting pathogen interference with the host genome. Epigenetics also affects the health sciences by providing a dynamic mechanistic framework to explain the way in which environmental and behavioral factors interact with the genome to alter disease risk. In this article we review current knowledge of epigenome regulation in light of the multifactorial nature of periodontal diseases. We discuss epigenetic tagging in identified genes, and consider the potential implications of epigenetic changes on host-microbiome dynamics in chronic inflammatory states and in response to environmental stressors. The most recent advances in genomic technologies have placed us in a position to analyze interaction effects (eg, between periodontal disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus), which can be investigated through epigenome-wide association analysis. Finally, because of the individualized traits of epigenetic biomarkers, pharmacoepigenomic perspectives are also considered as potentially novel therapeutic approaches for improving periodontal disease status.