Research at the University of Alberta helps fill in important information in the link between gum disease and  cardiovascularr problems

Research at the University of Alberta helps fill in important information in the link between gum disease and added risks with cardiovascularr problems
Photo Credit: Matthew G. Fisher/American Heart Association

Canadian research links oral health to cardiovascular health

For many years now, medical professionals have known there was a link between oral health and cardiovascular disease. What they hadn’t understood was exactly how that link worked.

While it is important to understand that it is certainly not the only link, or even a major link, there is an added risk factor

 Maria Febbraio (PhD) and her team at the University of Alberta School of Dentistry have discovered the additional factor in that link between gum disease and cardiovascular inflammation.

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Professor Maria Febbraio (Phd) supervised the resaarch at the University of Alberta School of Dentistry
Professor Maria Febbraio (Phd) supervised the resaarch at the University of Alberta School of Dentistry © University of Alberta

Professor Febbraio supervised the research which was published in a May edition of the respected science journal Plos-One

The new research adds important new information to the existing knowledge that people with untreated periodontal disease are at higher risk of developing. atherosclerosis (or hardening of the arteries)

In order to combat the various effects in both cardiovascular and periodontal inflammation, research first has to discover exactly what factors and processes are involved.

The University of Alberta researchers found a new receptor on cells, identified as CD36, that interacts with bacteria in the mouth causing periodontal disease.

This cell receptor CD36 interacts with “toll-like receptors”—the immune system’s early-warning sentinels against infection—to produce a protein called interleukin-1 beta, (IL1B) It is this protein which causes inflammation.

While the link between periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease was known to involve toll-like receptors, professor Febbraio says, “this study recognizes CD36 as an essential co-receptor in the inflammatory response and now that we have an idea of the players involved, we can try to direct therapies more specifically to avoid the unwanted side-effects of medication used to treat inflammation.”

She notes that research in this area will continue but adds that with the new discovery, that eventually, “We can specifically try to intervene in the interaction between CD36 and toll-like receptors to block the inflammatory response to the bacteria. Our studies identify CD36 as a new potential therapeutic target,”

In addition to the chemicals released, periodontal disease also releases bacteria into the bloodstream which also presents a cardiovascular risk.

She says it further highlights the fact that good oral health has a wider affect in the body and is important to reduce risk of cardiovascular problems.

Gum disease is also known to ba a contributing factor in other health conditions.

Dr. Robert MacGregor, president of the Canadian Dental Association says, “Senior citizens can aspirate bacteria from their mouth into their lungs and that can result in pnuemonia. The other health risk that we’ve long known in dentistry is association between periodontal disease and diabetes. Again, that’s not a cause and effect but periodontal disease can exacerbate diabetes.”

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