The prevalence of obesity has increased substantially over the past decades in most industrialized countries. Obesity is a systemic disease that predisposes to a variety of co-morbidities and complications that affect overall health. Cross-sectional studies suggest that obesity is also associated with oral diseases, particularly periodontal disease, and prospective studies suggest that periodontitis may be related to cardiovascular disease. The possible causal relationship between obesity and periodontitis and potential underlying biological mechanisms remain to be established; however, the adipose tissue actively secretes a variety of cytokines and hormones that are involved in inflammatory processes, pointing toward similar pathways involved in the pathophysiology of obesity, periodontitis, and related inflammatory diseases. We provide an overview of the definition and assessment of obesity and of related chronic diseases and complications that may be important in the periodontist's office. Studies that have examined the association between obesity and periodontitis are reviewed, and adipose-tissue-derived hormones and cytokines that are involved in inflammatory processes and their relationship to periodontitis are discussed. Our aim is to raise the periodontist's awareness when treating obese individuals.

Subjects with RA have significantly increased periodontal attachment loss compared to controls. Oral hygiene may only partially account for this association.

Within the limits of a retrospective analysis, these findings indicate that administration of amoxicillin/metronidazole immediately after initial SRP provides more PD reduction and RAL "gain" in initially deep sites than late administration at SPT with reinstrumentation after 3 months.

The correlations between calprotectin and MPO indicate that PMNs are a major contributor to the calprotectin content in gingival crevicular fluid of severely affected sites. Calprotectin levels in gingival crevicular fluid and their changes reflect periodontal inflammation as well as the clinical treatment outcome. A prognostic potential of this marker substance remains to be determined.

The present study shows that patients with AS have a significantly higher risk of PD, strongly suggesting the need for close collaboration between rheumatologists, periodontists and dental hygienists when treating patients with AS.

Conflict of interest and source of funding statementThe authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The study was funded in parts by

In first-line non-surgical therapy for GAP, SRP plus adjunctive systemic amoxicillin/metronidazole was more efficacious in clinically relevant measures of outcome than SRP plus adjunctive placement of CHX chips.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) catalyzes cross-linking of elastin and collagen, which is essential for structural integrity and function of bone tissue. The present study examined the role of Lox gene deficiency for the osteoblast phenotype in primary calvarial osteoblasts from E18.5 Lox knockout (Lox -/-) and wild type (wt) (C57 BL/6) mice. Next to Lox gene depletion, mRNA expression of Lox isoforms, LOXL1-4, was significantly down-regulated in Lox -/-bone tissue. A significant decrease of DNA synthesis of Lox -/-osteoblasts compared to wt was found. Early stages of osteoblastic apoptosis studied by Annexin-V binding as well as later stages of DNA fragmentation were not affected. However, mineral nodule formation and osteoblastic differentiation were markedly decreased, as revealed by significant down-regulation of osteoblastic markers, type I collagen, BSP and Runx2/ Cbfa1.