Electroacupuncture regulates macrophage, neutrophil, and oral microbiota to alleviate alveolar bone loss and inflammation in experimental ligature‐induced periodontitis

Abstract

Aim Electroacupuncture (EA) regulates distant body physiology through somatic sensory autonomic reflexes, balances the microbiome, and can promote the release of immune cells into bloodstream, thereby inhibiting severe systemic inflammation. This makes it possible to use EA as an integrated treatment for periodontitis. Materials and Methods In this study, EA was applied to the ST36 acupoints in a ligature‐induced periodontitis (LIP) mouse model. Then the effects of EA on periodontal myeloid cells, cytokines, and the microbiome were comprehensively analysed using flow cytometry, quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and 16 S sequencing. Results Results demonstrated that EA could significantly relieve periodontal bone resorption. EA also suppressed the infiltration of macrophages and neutrophils, reduced gene expression of the pro‐inflammatory cytokines IL‐1β, IL‐6, IL‐17 and TNF‐α, and increased expression of the anti‐inflammatory factors IL‐4 and IL‐10 in periodontal tissues. Moreover, composition of the periodontal microbiome was regulated by EA, finding that complex of microbiota, including supragingival Veillonella, subgingival Streptococcus, and subgingival Erysipelatoclostridium, were significantly reduced. Meanwhile, nitrate and nitrate‐related activities of subgingival microbiota were reversed. Network analysis revealed close relationships among Veillonella, Streptococcus, and Bacteroides. Conclusions Our study indicates that EA can effectively alleviate inflammation and bone resorption in LIP mice, potentially via the regulation of myeloid cells, cytokines, and periodontal microbiome.

Porphyromonas gingivalis induces an inflammatory response via the cGAS-STING signaling pathway in a periodontitis mouse model

“…Periodontitis causes alveolar bone destruction in the gingival tissue along with extensive macrophage infiltration ( Liu et al, 2023 ). Macrophages are both heterogeneous and plastic, have polarized phenotypes and exhibit different functions depending on their environment ( Zhu et al, 2019 ).…”

Computational analysis of curcumin‐mediated alleviation of inflammation in periodontitis patients with experimental validation in mice

“…The CTR and LIP groups were given equivalent volumes of olive oil. For LIP, mice were anaesthetized with inhaled isoflurane and a 5-0 ligature wire was subsequently placed around the bilateral maxillary second molars (K. Liu et al, 2023;Wu et al, 2023).…”

“…Our previous findings showed that neutrophils are key immune cells involved in the development of periodontitis and may play a critical role in host defence against infection (K. Liu et al, 2023). However, pharmacological manipulation or regulation is difficult in terms of neutrophils, which have a short survival period, rapidly undergo apoptosis or release extracellular neutrophil traps (NETs) consisting of reticulocyte DNA and antimicrobial proteins upon stimulation by pathogens or oxidative stress (Singhal & Kumar, 2022).…”

Integrating network pharmacology and experimental evaluation to explore the complementary therapeutic effect and mechanism of melatonin in periodontitis

“…However, in acute infections and in patients with systemic diseases, conventional nonsurgical or surgical therapy alone may not provide satisfactory therapeutic results, thus a complementary treatment is urgently required, such as the electroacupuncture and the application of different agents (melatonin, hypochlorite, or chlorhexidine, etc. ), which have different results in terms of the clinical attachment level and anti-inflammatory effect [ 15 , 16 ].…”