Creepy:
Bacteria in Brains Suggest Alzheimer’s-Gum Disease Link
http://www.bloomberg...sease-link.html
Bacteria linked to gum disease traveled to the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, suggesting that dental hygiene plays a role in the development of the memory-robbing illness, British researchers said.
Signs of the bacterium, known as Porphyromonas gingivalis, were found in four out of 10 samples of brain tissue from Alzheimer’s patients, while no signs of the bug were found in 10 brains from people of similar age who never developed dementia, according to the results of the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
The findings support a theory that bacteria in the mouth enter the bloodstream through chewing or tooth removal and end up in other parts of the body including the brain, StJohn Crean, the lead researcher, said in a telephone interview. Over time, the chemicals produced by the bacteria could build up and contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s, according to the theory.
“The results are very encouraging,” said Crean, the dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Central Lancashire in England. “We’ve shown an association, not causation. It does nothing more than to prove that these bacteria do get to the brain.”
While brushing and flossing can also cause bacteria to enter the blood, it’s important to frequently and effectively clean the teeth to decrease the number of bacteria and cut the chance that they will travel outside the mouth, he said.
Abstract :
http://www.ncbi.nlm....pubmed/23666172
J Alzheimers Dis. 2013 Jan 1;36(4):665-77. doi: 10.3233/JAD-121918.
Determining the presence of periodontopathic virulence factors in short-term postmortem Alzheimer's disease brain tissue.
Poole S, Singhrao SK, Kesavalu L, Curtis MA, Crean S.
Source
Oral & Dental Sciences Research Group, School of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to establish a link between periodontal disease and Alzheimer's disease (AD) with a view to identifying the major periodontal disease bacteria (Treponema denticola, Tannerella forsythia, and Porphyromonas gingivalis) and/or bacterial components in brain tissue from 12 h postmortem delay. Our request matched 10 AD cases for tissue from Brains for Dementia Research alongside 10 non-AD age-related controls with similar or greater postmortem interval. We exposed SVGp12, an astrocyte cell line, to culture supernatant containing lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from the putative periodontal bacteria P. gingivalis. The challenged SVGp12 cells and cryosections from AD and control brains were immunolabeled and immunoblotted using a battery of antibodies including the anti-P. gingivalis-specific monoclonal antibody. Immunofluorescence labeling demonstrated the SVGp12 cell line was able to adsorb LPS from culture supernatant on its surface membrane; similar labeling was observed in four out of 10 AD cases. Immunoblotting demonstrated bands corresponding to LPS from P. gingivalis in the SVGp12 cell lysate and in the same four AD brain specimens which were positive when screened by immunofluorescence. All controls remained negative throughout while the same four cases were consistently positive for P. gingivalis LPS (p = 0.029). This study confirms that LPS from periodontal bacteria can access the AD brain during life as labeling in the corresponding controls, with equivalent/longer postmortem interval, was absent. Demonstration of a known chronic oral-pathogen-related virulence factor reaching the human brains suggests an inflammatory role in the existing AD pathology.
PMID: 23666172 [PubMed - in process]
Edited by blood, 28 August 2013 - 12:03 PM.
