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Periodontitis associated with brain function impairment in middle-aged and elderly individuals with normal cognition
Wei Ye1, Yufei Tao2, Wenrui Wang1
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Journal of Periodontology
|November 20, 2024
Summary
Periodontitis, even in individuals with normal cognition, is linked to changes in brain functional connectivity. This suggests gum disease may be a risk factor for brain damage and early Alzheimer's disease prevention.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Oral Health
- Gerontology
Background:
- Periodontitis is increasingly recognized as a potential risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- The impact of periodontitis on brain function in cognitively normal (NC) middle-aged and elderly individuals remains unclear.
- Understanding these effects in the NC stage is crucial for early dementia prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in intranetwork and internetwork functional connectivity (FC) in middle-aged and elderly individuals with normal cognition (NC).
- To determine the effects of varying degrees of periodontitis on brain function in this population.
- To explore periodontitis as a potential risk factor for brain damage and early AD prevention.
Main Methods:
- Acquired periodontal data and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) from 51 subjects with NC.
- Utilized independent component analysis (ICA) and correlation analysis for statistical evaluation.
- Compared functional connectivity patterns across groups with no periodontitis, mild periodontitis, and moderate-to-severe periodontitis.
Main Results:
- Observed differences in intranetwork FC within the anterior default-mode network (aDMN), dorsal attention network, and dorsal sensorimotor network (dSMN).
- Moderate-to-severe periodontitis was associated with altered internetwork FC, including increased connectivity between auditory/ventral attention networks and aDMN/salience network.
- Decreased FC was noted between the posterior default-mode network and the right frontoparietal network, with significant correlations between altered FC and periodontal indices.
Conclusions:
- Periodontitis is associated with both intranetwork and internetwork functional connectivity changes, even in cognitively normal individuals.
- These findings suggest periodontitis may be a potential risk factor for brain damage.
- The study provides theoretical insights and identifies a potential new target for the early prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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