Gum disease can aggravate COPD

Person holding lip up to show gum disease in mouth.

Severe gum disease has been linked in the past to the progression of COPD, but until now an understanding of how the connection plays out in the immune system has remained unclear.

Researchers from Sichuan University in China report that bacteria associated with periodontitis promotes COPD through the activation of two types of cells: gamma delta T cells and M2 macrophages, both of which are important to the immune system. 

Focusing on this mechanism might offer practical strategies for COPD prevention or control, according to the researchers.

“By enhancing periodontal therapy and targeting the inhibition of gamma delta T cells and M2 macrophages we may be able to help control the progression of COPD,” said microbiologist and study co-lead Boyu Tang, PhD.

Previous studies have established that the oral bacteria Porphyromonas gingivalis plays an important role in gum disease. For the study, researchers used mouse models to show how those bacteria could aggravate the progression of COPD. Mice infected with both periodontitis and COPD had a worse progression of COPD than those that were infected with COPD alone.

Another experiment found that mice orally infected with P. gingivalis the bacteria migrated to and infected lung tissue, leading to a significant observable change in the lung microbiota. Further observations showed that periodontitis promoted the expansion of the immune cells in the lung tissue. A final experiment connected the dots by showing that P. gingivalis could activate the immune cells, promoting their ability to produce cytokines associated with worsening COPD.

The researchers said the decrease in lung function and increase in immune cells was more modest than they’d predicted, but that could be an artifact of the experimental setup. They plan to carry out further studies using human patients with both conditions. 

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