Researchers have found that increased levels of gum-disease and disease causing bacteria increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
RA is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects a person's joints, causing pain and disability. It can effect internal organs also. While it is typically more common in older people there is also a high prevalence in young adults, adolescents and even children. It also tends to affect more women than men.
The prevalence of gum disease is increased in patients with RA and could be a key initiator of RA-related autoimmunity. "This is because autoimmunity in RA is characterized by an antibody response to citrullinated proteins and the oral bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg) is the only human pathogen known to express an enzyme that can generate citrullinated proteins."
This data enhances the clinical understanding of key initiators of RA. "It has been shown that RA-associated antibodies, such as anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, are present well before any evidence of joint disease. This suggests they originate from a site outside of the joints," said Dr Kulveer Mankia of Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Muscoskeletal Medicine and the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre (study author). "Our study is the first to describe clinical periodontal disease and the relative abundance of periodontal bacteria in these at-risk individuals. Our results support the hypothesis that local inflammation at mucosal surfaces, such as the gums in this case, may provide the primary trigger for the systemic autoimmunity seen in RA."
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E. (n.d.). Gum disease may be a key initiator of rheumatoid arthritis related autoimmunity. Retrieved from https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/elar-gdm061418.php