Dental News - Susceptibility to caries and gum disease found in genes

UPMC press release

Thu. 22 April 2010

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PITTSBURGH, USA: Certain genetic variations may be linked to higher rates of tooth decay and aggressive periodontitis, according to two recently published papers by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and their collaborators.

Dr Alexandre R. Vieira, senior author of both papers and an assistant professor of oral biology, and his colleagues found that the rate of dental caries was influenced by individual variations, or polymorphisms, in a gene called beta defensin 1(DEFB1), which plays a key role in the first-line immune response against invading germs. The findings are available online in the Journal of Dental Research.

“We were able to use data gathered from our Dental Registry and DNA Repository, the only one of its kind in the world, to see if certain polymorphisms were associated with the development of caries,” Dr Vieira said.

For the study, the researchers analysed nearly 300 anonymous dental records and accompanying saliva samples from the registry.

“It’s possible that these variations lead to differences in beta defensin’s ability to inhibit bacterial colonisation,” Dr Vieira said. “In the future, we might be able to test for these polymorphisms as clinical markers for caries risk.”

In a second paper, published in PLoS ONE, Dr Vieira, colleagues and collaborators in Brazil studied saliva samples of 389 people in 55 families to look for genetic links to aggressive periodontitis, which is thought to be more common in Africans and those of African descent. Brazil’s population is composed primarily of Caucasians of Portuguese ancestry, Africans and native Indians.

They found hints of an association between the disease and the FAM5C gene. While further testing did not find any mutations or polymorphisms that bore out a relationship, other experiments showed elevated levels of FAM5C expression, or activation, in areas of diseased periodontal tissue compared to healthy tissue.

“The FAM5C gene recently was implicated in cardiovascular disease, in which inflammation plays a role, just as in periodontitis,” Dr Vieira said. “More research is needed to see if variation in the gene is associated with different activity profiles.”

(Edited by Claudia Salwiczek, DTI)

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