Tooth loss and gum disease linked to fatness

William Atkins
Tuesday, 25 December 2007 01:15

Science - Health

Boston researchers find that obese people have less immune cells to fight tooth loss and gum disease, which is also linked to increased incidences of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Medical researcher Salomon Amar and his associates at Boston University Medical Center, Massachusetts, tested skinny and fat mice with Porphyromonas gingivalis. It is a bacterium that is known to cause gum disease. The researchers wanted to know how this bacterium affected the mice, specifically if being skinny or fat differed when infected with P. gingivalis. They injected the bacterium either in the gums or the bloodstream of the two groups of mice.

The Amar team found that the fat mice dealt with P. gingivalis slower than the skinny mice. The fat mice were not able to destroy the bacterium as fast as the skinny mice, and it didn’t matter if the bacterium was injected into the gums or bloodstream.

The reason why skinny mice killed the bacterium faster than the fat mice was because their immune system was stronger. Specifically, macrophages, which are immune cells, produce chemicals called cytokines that help to fight off infection. Skinny mice produce more macrophages than fat mice.

As the experiment progressed, the researchers also discovered that the skinny mice had 40% less bone loss in their teeth and roots than their fat counterparts.

The conclusion of this study showed that fat people are at higher risk of gum disease and tooth loss than skinny or normally weight people. In addition, because of this increased risk of erosion to their gums and teeth, there is also an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in obese people.

The result of the experiment has been written up in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Further studies of Amar will deal with techniques to enhance the immune systems of fat people.