Gum Disease May Encourage Full-Blown AIDS
Gum disease could trigger full-blown AIDS in people already infected with HIV, according to a recent Japanese study.
Researchers report that gum disease produces butryric acid, which blocks an enzyme known as HDAC that stops HIV from growing.
Kuniyasu Ochiai, a professor who chairs the Microbiology Department at Tokyo-based Nihon University, and his research team used in-vitro experiments to show that the virus in two kinds of cells related to the immune system rapidly proliferates after given culture fluid containing gum disease-causing bacteria.
"Serious periodontal disease could lead to the development (of AIDS) among HIV-positive people… although the probability largely depends on individual physical strength," Ochiai said.
“Adult periodontitis is a chronic destructive disease involving host inflammatory responses to Gram-negative bacteria,” researchers wrote.
Severe destructive adult periodontitis is caused by a mixed infection and the combination of certain periodontopathogens, including butyric acid, which has also been shown to be produces by bacterial fermentation of dietary fibers in the colon.
"There are fears that even those whose were unaware that they had contracted HIV could develop the epidemic once they have periodontal disease," he said.
Previous research has found evidence to suggest a link between gum disease and diabetes, but the recent study published in the March issue of the Journal of Immunology, is the first to find that it activates HIV, researchers said.
Ochiai as well as Takashi Okamoto, molecular biology professor at Nagoya City University in central Japan and research assistant Kenichi Imai plan to conduct the test on animals as well.
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