Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 21, 2016; 22(35): 7963-7972
Published online Sep 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i35.7963
Periodontal and inflammatory bowel diseases: Is there evidence of complex pathogenic interactions?
Ronaldo Lira-Junior, Carlos Marcelo Figueredo
Ronaldo Lira-Junior, Carlos Marcelo Figueredo, Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Odontology, Rio de Janeiro State University, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20551-030, Brazil
Author contributions: Lira-Junior R and Figueredo CM contributed equally to this manuscript; both authors conceived the paper, performed the literature search and interpretation, wrote the article, and gave final approval of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no potential conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Dr. Carlos Marcelo Figueredo, Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Odontology, Rio de Janeiro State University, Boulevard 28 de Setembro 157, 20 Andar, Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20551-030, Brazil. cmfigueredo@hotmail.com
Telephone: +55-21-28688282
Received: March 29, 2016
Peer-review started: April 4, 2016
First decision: May 30, 2016
Revised: June 29, 2016
Accepted: August 1, 2016
Article in press: August 1, 2016
Published online: September 21, 2016
Processing time: 169 Days and 15.1 Hours
Abstract

Periodontal disease and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are both chronic inflammatory diseases. Their pathogenesis is mediated by a complex interplay between a dysbiotic microbiota and the host immune-inflammatory response, and both are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. This review aimed to provide an overview of the evidence dealing with a possible pathogenic interaction between periodontal disease and IBD. There seems to be an increased prevalence of periodontal disease in patients with IBD when compared to healthy controls, probably due to changes in the oral microbiota and a higher inflammatory response. Moreover, the induction of periodontitis seems to result in gut dysbiosis and altered gut epithelial cell barrier function, which might contribute to the pathogenesis of IBD. Considering the complexity of both periodontal disease and IBD, it is very challenging to understand the possible pathways involved in their coexistence. In conclusion, this review points to a complex pathogenic interaction between periodontal disease and IBD, in which one disease might alter the composition of the microbiota and increase the inflammatory response related to the other. However, we still need more data derived from human studies to confirm results from murine models. Thus, mechanistic studies are definitely warranted to clarify this possible bidirectional association.

Keywords: Periodontal disease; Inflammatory bowel disease; Crohn’s disease; Ulcerative colitis; Inflammation

Core tip: The prevalence of periodontal disease seems to be increased in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Moreover, the induction of periodontitis seems to result in gut dysbiosis and altered gut epithelial cell barrier function. This review points to a complex pathogenic interaction between periodontal disease and IBD, in which one disease might alter the composition of the microbiota and increase the inflammatory response related to the other disease.