NYMC Researchers Find That Probiotics Can be Used to Treat Severe Gum Disease
The study showed that mice with gum disease saw improvement after being administered the probiotic Akkermansia muciniphila.
Researchers at New York Medical College (NYMC) have found that serious gum disease can be counteracted through the administration of probiotics. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, was conducted by a team of members of the faculty at NYMC, University of Strasbourg in France and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and found that oral administration of live, pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila), a mucus-degrading bacterium with inflammatory properties commonly found in the human gut, significantly decreased Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis)-induced damage to the gums.
The NYMC-based research was led by Salomon Amar, D.D.S., Ph.D., vice president for research and professor of pharmacology and of pathology, microbiology and immunology, NYMC, senior vice president for research affairs, Touro University, and professor of dental medicine, Touro College of Dental Medicine at NYMC, along with Hannah Mulhall, Ph.D. ‘21, graduate research associate in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology and Jeanne M. DiChiara, Ph.D., research fellow in the Department of Pharmacology.
The study, “Pasteurized Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) reduces periodontal and systemic inflammation induced by P. gingivalis in lean and obese mice,” gave mice P. gingivalis-associated experimental periodontitis. P. gingivalis is the pathogen prominent in chronic periodontitis, an inflammatory disease that destroys the tissues supporting the tooth, eventually leading to tooth loss and in severe cases, damage to the jawbone.
After three weeks, the same mice were orally administered live, pasteurized A. muciniphila or Amuc_1100 and observed for three additional weeks. Through this method, this study showed that only the local administration of A. muciniphila, viable or pasteurized, or pili-like protein Amuc_1100 can prevent inflammatory bone resorption associated with P. gingivalis infection.
“Further work will be necessary to determine the pathways in which these beneficial effects are taking place. Altogether, pasteurized A. muciniphila seems to be an ideal candidate to be an adjuvant for periodontal treatment,” Dr. Amar said.
The next step in the study will be to conduct human trials to see if A. muciniphila has the same effect, Dr. Amar said, which has been deemed safe after testing toxicity of the bacterium.