Dental News - Genes drive gingival inflammation

Daniel Zimmermann, DTI

Tue. 8 December 2009

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NEW YORK, NY, USA/LEIPZIG, Germany: Researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill in the US have discovered that almost one third of all human genes is involved in the inflammation of gingival tissue. By observing gum samples at molecular level collected from fourteen individuals with mild gingivitis, they found that more than 9,000 genes are expressed differently during the onset and healing process of the condition. According to latest figures of the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, the estimated number of genes in the human body ranges from 25,000 to 30,000.

The study, supported by the US National Institutes of Health and oral health care maker Procter & Gamble, is the first to successfully identify gene expression and biological pathways involved with the onset and healing process of gingivitis including those associated with immune response, energy metabolism, neural processes, vasculature, chemotaxis, wound healing and steroid metabolism.

"The study's findings demonstrate that clinical symptoms of gingivitis reflect complicated changes in cellular and molecular processes within the body," said Steven Offenbacher, D.D.S., Ph.D., the study's lead author and director of the UNC School of Dentistry-based Center for Oral and Systemic Diseases. "Understanding the thousands of individual genes and multiple systems involved in gingivitis will help explain exactly what is occurring in a person's body at the onset of the disease and how it relates to their overall health."

Gingivitis is commonly attributed to lapses in simple oral hygiene habits. If untreated, it can lead to periodontal disease, which has been studied extensively for its possible relation to heart disease, diabetes and pre-term birth. The researchers said that understanding how the condition develops and resolves on a molecular level can possibly provide critical insights into gum disease prevention, as well as new treatments.

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