Periodontal microbiology and microbial etiology of periodontal diseases: Historical concepts and contemporary perspectives

Abstract

Etiology of a disease refers to the causative trigger(s), whereas pathogenesis refers to the mechanism(s) by which the disease progresses. Over the past century, we have appreciated that periodontitis is of microbial etiology and inflammatory pathogenesis, albeit the coordination of the contributing factors for the initiation and progression of the disease may vary from an epidemiological perspective. 1 In other terms, while the microbial biofilm developing on the tooth surface constitutes a necessary etiological factor, its mere presence is not sufficient for the initiation of the disease. Further risk factors, such as host genetics, lifestyle, stress, and systemic conditions, that dictate the immunopathogenesis are crucial for the transition from a healthy to a disease state. Such factors are being addressed in other papers within this special issue.Whether it is one form of disease manifesting over different degrees of progression and severity, or different forms of disease exhibiting similar clinical manifestations, has long been a topic of public curiosity and scientific endeavor for mankind. The historical and contemporary knowledge established by pioneering researchers around the globe has led to paradigm shifts in our etiological understanding of the disease. This article discusses the continuum of seminal discoveries in the field, while highlighting the European contribution and its universal impact.

Butyrate Inhibits Dendritic Cell Activation and Alleviates Periodontitis

“…After revealing the relationship between butyrate and glycolytic activity of DCs during LPS-induced activation in vitro, we used a ligature-induced periodontitis model to assess the effects of butyrate in vivo. Ligatures promote bacterial accumulation and immunological imbalance, which is the key reason for alveolar bone loss (Belibasakis et al 2023). In periodontitis, DCs mature in the gingival lamina propria and generate oral lymphatic foci with activated CD4 + T cells (Elashiry et al 2020).…”

“…Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by the impaired host immune response to pathogenic microorganisms (Belibasakis et al 2023). Microbial accumulation causes local inflammation in periodontal tissues, resulting in irreversible periodontal bone resorption (Sima et al 2019; Hajishengallis 2020).…”

Multifunctionalized and Dual‐Crosslinked Hydrogel Promotes Inflammation Resolution and Bone Regeneration via NLRP3 Inhibition in Periodontitis

“…[4,36] Host inflammation responds to bacterial invasion; however, sustained and chronic infection results in uncontrollable inflammatory effects that could compromise periodontal homeostasis. [31,37] Pathogens like P. gingivalis pull the danger alarm as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), which induce the pyroptosis of macrophages via NLRP3 inflammasome activation. While macrophage pyroptosis facilitates the clearance of microorganisms to a certain extent, the secondary pro-inflammatory cytokine cascade causes extensive tissue destruction.…”

Localization and expression profiles of gingival monocyte chemoattractant protein-1-induced protein-1 (MCPIP-1) and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma translocation protein 1 (MALT-1)

“…Periodontal disease is an inflammatory disease of the teeth-supporting tissues, and it develops in response to imbalanced interaction between the local microbial community and the inflammatory response of the host [14,15]. The inflammatory reaction is initiated by the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by specialized pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) on host cells [16].…”