Journal Updates

Periodontal bacteria and the rheumatoid arthritis-related antigens.

A new study published in Current Opinion in Rheumatology evaluated the mechanisms that underlie the association between periodontal pathogens and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This review focused on the cross-reactivity hypothesis as a mechanism that may contribute to explain the pathologic evolution of periodontal infections from periodontitis to RA. The objective was based on the scientific rationale that immune reactions following infection by periodontal bacteria might cross-react with RA autoantigens, eventually leading to autoimmunity. An extremely varied pattern of peptide sharing was observed via the antigen model – rheumatoid antigen associated with RA-A47 arthritis, and through analyzing five periodontal bacteria – Porphyromonas gingivalis, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia and Prevotella intermedia. In inference, it was stated that in the context of the cross-reactivity hypothesis, data discloses the possibility of distinguishing periodontal bacteria that are capable of attacking periodontal tissue from those that are additionally equipped with a rheumatologic potential, by virtue of the sharing of peptide sequences with RA antigens.