BUFFALO, New York: Researchers at the University of Buffalo have recently found that excessive inflammation due to obesity increases MDSCs and osteoclasts production; thus, leading to periodontitis and alveolar bone destruction.
This research promotes the concept that obesity-induced Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells (MDSC) expansion into osteoclasts during periodontitis is tied to increased alveolar bone loss.
MDSC is a group of immune cells that increase during illness to regulate immune function. It originates in the bone marrow and expands into a range of different cell types, including osteoclasts.
Bone loss, one of the major symptom of gum disease or periodontal disease, ultimately lead to tooth loss. According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it affects more than 47 per cent of adults aged 30 years and older.
In this animal-based study, K H Kwack, the lead author of the research, and colleagues examined two groups of mice put on a low and high-fat diet. They found that the high-fat diet group experienced obesity, more inflammation, a more significant increase of MDSCs, osteoclasts and thus lost more alveolar bone than the group on the low-fat diet.
Moreover, they found that the expression of 27 genes tied to osteoclast formation was significantly elevated in the high-fat diet-fed group.
The study improved the understanding of the connection between obesity and gum disease or periodontal bone loss.
According to K.L. Kirkwood, the research's contributing author; the findings may shed more light on other chronic inflammatory, bone-related diseases that develop concurrently with obesity, such as arthritis and osteoporosis.
The research 'Novel Preosteoclast Populations in Obesity-Associated Periodontal Disease' has recently been published in the Journal of Dental Research.
