New study results suggest that chronic inflammation, thearise due to obesity, triggering the development of cells that break down bone tissue. This also includes the bone that holds the teeth in place. According to the study authors, understanding the connection between obesity and gum disease could provide new treatment options.
Chronic inflammation as a cause of gum disease
The scientists conducted this research using animal models and recently published it in the “Journal of Dental Research”. Their analysis found that excessive chronic inflammation due to obesity increases the number of suppressive bone marrow cells, also called myeloid cells. This is a group of immune cells that regulate immune function during illness. Such cells, which originate in the bone marrow, also develop into a number of different cell types, including osteoclasts. The latter break down the bone tissue. Additionally, bone loss is a major symptom of gum disease and can ultimately lead to tooth loss. Gum disease is also known as periodontitis and, according to medical reports, affects more than 47% of adults aged 30 and over. This research advances the concept that proliferation of such cells in obesity into osteoclasts during periodontitis is associated with increased destruction of alveolar bone.
Taken together, the new findings support the view that obesity increases the risk of periodontal bone loss, the researchers said. The study examined two groups of mice that were fed very different diets over a period of 16 weeks. The first group had a low-fat diet that got 10% of energy from fat. The rest of the experimental animals were fed a high-fat diet that got 45% of their energy from fat. The research found that the high-fat diet had more chronic inflammation as well as a greater increase in immune cells in the bone marrow and spleen. The high-fat diet experimental group also developed significantly greater numbers of osteoclasts and lost more alveolar bone. The expression of 27 genes that are linked to osteoclast formation was also significantly increased with a high-fat diet. The resultsthis studycould shed more light on the mechanisms behind other chronic inflammatory diseases such as arthritis and osteoporosis.
