The American Heart Association supports an association between periodontal diseases and atherosclerosis but not a causal association. This study explores the use of the integrin β6(-/-) mouse to study the causality. We investigated the ability of a polymicrobial consortium of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia and Fusobacterium nucleatum to colonize the periodontium and induce local and systemic inflammatory responses. Polymicrobial-infected Itgβ6(-/-) mice demonstrate higher susceptibility to gingival colonization/infection with severe gingival inflammation, apical migration of junctional epithelium, periodontal pocket formation, alveolar bone resorption, osteoclast activation, bacterial invasion of gingiva, a greater propensity for the bacteria to disseminate hematogenously, and a strong splenic T cell cytokine response. Atherosclerosis risk factors including serum nitric oxide, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, serum amyloid A, and lipid peroxidation were significantly altered by polybacterial infection, demonstrating enhanced potential for atherosclerotic plaque progression. Aortic gene expression revealed significant alterations in specific toll-like receptor (TLR) and nucleotide-binding domain, leucine rich repeat containing receptor (NLR) pathway genes in response to periodontal bacterial infection. Histomorphometry of aorta demonstrated larger atherosclerotic plaques in Itgβ6(-/-) mice than WT mice but no significant difference in atherosclerotic plaque size between polybacterial-infected and sham-infected mice. Fluorescent in situ hybridization demonstrated active invasion of aortic adventitial layer by P. gingivalis. Our observations suggest that polybacterial infection elicits distinct aortic TLR and inflammasome signaling and significantly elevates local aortic oxidative stress. These results are the first to demonstrate the mechanism of host aortic inflammatory response induced by polymicrobial infection with well-characterized periodontal pathogens.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
4
4%
Other
8
8%
Unknown
29
29%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 22 February 2016.
All research outputs
#7,778,071
of 25,373,627 outputs
Outputs from Infection and Immunity
#4,469
of 13,521 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#85,397
of 280,717 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Infection and Immunity
#15
of 79 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,373,627 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 69th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 13,521 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.9. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 280,717 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 69% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 79 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done well, scoring higher than 79% of its contemporaries.
