An observation on the severity of periodontal disease in past cigarette smokers suffering from rheumatoid arthritis- evidence for a long-term effect of cigarette smoke exposure?

Oral Health of Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention-A Possible Link between Periodontal Disease and In-Stent Restenosis

Introduction: There is a well-documented association between coronary artery disease (CHD) and periodontal disease (PD) mediated by common inflammatory pathways. This association, however, has not been investigated extensively in the special context of in-stent restenosis. This study aimed to investigate the periodontal status of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for restenotic lesions. Methods and Results: We enrolled 90 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and 90 age- and gender-matched healthy controls in the present study. All subjects received a full-mouth examination by a periodontist. Plaque index, periodontal status, and tooth loss were determined. The periodontal state was significantly worse (p < 0.0001) in the PCI group, and each periodontal stage increased the odds of belonging to the PCI group. This effect of PD was independent of diabetes mellitus, another strong risk factor for CAD. The PCI group was further divided into two subgroups: PCI for restenotic lesions (n = 39) and PCI for de novo lesions (n = 51). Baseline clinical and procedural characteristics were comparable between the two PCI subgroups. A significant (p < 0.001) association was found between the PCI subgroup and the severity of periodontal disease, with the incidence of severe PD reaching 64.1%. Conclusions: Patients undergoing PCI for in-stent restenosis exhibit more severe forms of periodontal disease not only as compared to healthy controls but also as compared to patients stented for de novo lesions. The potential causality between PD and restenosis must be studied in larger prospective studies.

Oral and Periodontal Implications of Hepatitis Type B and D. Current State of Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Periodontitis is characterized by low-grade inflammation of the periodontal tissues, the structures that support and connect the teeth to the maxilla and mandible. This inflammation is caused by the accumulation of subgingival bacterial biofilm and gradually leads to the extensive damage of these tissues and the consequent loss of teeth. Hepatitis B is a major global health concern; infection with the hepatitis B virus causes significant inflammation of the liver and the possibility of its gradual evolution to cirrhosis. Hepatitis D, caused by infection with the delta hepatitis virus, is manifest only in patients already infected with the type B virus in a simultaneous (co-infected) or superimposed (superinfected) manner. The dental and periodontal status of patients with hepatitis B/D could exhibit significant changes, increasing the risk of periodontitis onset. Moreover, the progression of liver changes in these patients could be linked to periodontitis; therefore, motivating good oral and periodontal health could result in the prevention and limitation of pathological effects. Given that both types of diseases have a significant inflammatory component, common pro-inflammatory mediators could drive and augment the local inflammation at both a periodontal and hepatic level. This suggests that integrated management of these patients should be proposed, as therapeutical means could deliver an improvement to both periodontal and hepatic statuses. The aim of this review is to gather existing information on the proposed subject and to organize significant data in order to improve scientific accuracy and comprehension on this topic while generating future perspectives for research.

Periodontal Disease in Diabetes Mellitus: A Case-Control Study in Smokers and Non-Smokers

INTRODUCTION

It is well established that periodontal disease (PD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) can have a detrimental effect on each other's disease course, and that cigarette smoking exacerbates both conditions. However, literature on the periodontal status of smokers with DM is scarce, and the studies conducted to date did not use healthy controls or non-smokers with DM as controls. Consequently, the individual effects of smoking and DM on PD are difficult to untangle and estimate.

METHODS

A total of 128 participants were recruited to this study and their data analyzed. They were assigned to four groups: smoking patients with DM (SDM); non-smoking patients with DM (NSDM); smokers without DM (control group, SC) and (4) non-smokers without DM (control group, NSC). Each group consisted of 32 age-matched participants. The periodontal status of the participants was assessed by full oral examination. To express periodontal status, we used the four-stage classification introduced by Fernandes and colleagues (J Periodontol. 80(7):1062-1068, 2009). The control of DM was estimated by measuring hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels in the peripheral blood.

RESULTS

A significant difference in the severity of PD was found between the SC and NSC groups (p = 0.027) and between the NSC and SDM groups (p = 0.000), while the difference between the NSDM and SDM groups approached significance (p = 0.052). No person in the smoker groups could be classified as having a healthy periodontal status. The four-stage classification followed a normal distribution in the healthy, non-smoking controls (NSC). Smoking caused a shift toward medium-severe PD, while a marked shift toward the most severe stage was observed when both smoking and DM were present (SDM). There was no significant association between the type of DM and periodontal status, nor between diabetes control and the severity of PD. Persons in the SDM group had significantly fewer teeth than those in the NSC group (mean ± standard deviation: 16.0 ± 7.9 vs. 20.7 ± 5.6; p = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

Smoking damages the periodontium of even healthy individuals, but the damage is multiplied in a smoker who has DM, even though the effect of DM alone on periodontium health is relatively mild. Our results suggest a synergy between DM and smoking in terms of damage to the periodontal tissues, but the limited sample size of this study does not allow any hard conclusion to be drawn.

A case study of salivary microbiome in smokers and non-smokers in Hungary: analysis by shotgun metagenome sequencing

Objective

To investigate the role of cigarette smoking in disease-development through altering the composition of the oral microbial community. Periodontitis and oral cancer are highly prevalent in Hungary; therefore, the salivary microbiome of smoker and non-smoker Hungarian adults was characterized.

Methods

Shotgun metagenome sequencing of salivary DNA samples from 22 individuals (11 non-smokers and 11 current smokers) was performed using the Ion Torrent PGM^TM platform. Quality-filtered reads were analysed by both alignment-based sequence similarity searches and genome-centric binning.

Results

Prevotella, Veillonella and Streptococcus were the predominant genera in the saliva of both groups. Although the overall composition and diversity of the microbiota were similar, Prevotella was significantly more abundant in salivary samples of current smokers compared to non-smokers. Members of the genus Prevotella were implicated in the development of inflammatory diseases and oral cancer. The abundance of the genus Megasphaera also increased in current smokers, whereas the genera Neisseria, Oribacterium, Capnocytophaga and Porphyromonas were significantly reduced. The data generated by read-based taxonomic classification and genome-centric binning mutually validated the two distinct metagenomic approaches.

Conclusion

Smoking-associated dysbiosis of the salivary microbiome in current cigarette smokers, especially increased abundance of Prevotella and Megasphaera genera, may facilitate disease development.