Periodontitis and Alzheimer´s disease

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Immunology
• Gerontology

Background:

• Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive cognitive decline, with neuroinflammation a key factor.
• Periodontitis (PE) involves oral bacteria causing systemic inflammation, potentially impacting brain health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore shared pathological pathways between Alzheimer's disease and periodontitis.
• To investigate the potential link between periodontitis-induced inflammation and AD pathogenesis.

Main Methods:

• A literature review was conducted using Scielo, PubMed, and EBSCO.
• Keywords included "Alzheimer disease", "Periodontitis", "Neurodegeneration", "Inflammation mediators", and "Elderly".

Main Results:

• Both AD and PE share proinflammatory pathways and molecular characteristics.
• Periodontitis may facilitate the spread of inflammatory mediators to the brain, promoting AD hallmarks like amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
• This neuroinflammation activates glial cells, increasing proinflammatory cytokines and leading to neurodegeneration.

Conclusions:

• Shared pathological mechanisms like oxidative damage and inflammation exist between AD and PE.
• Current evidence is insufficient to definitively link periodontitis to AD.
• Further research is necessary to determine if periodontitis can induce or exacerbate neuroinflammation, thereby triggering AD.