Periodontal disease, represented by periodontitis, is the leading cause of tooth loss and affects close to one in five adults worldwide. In most cases, this condition occurs as a result of an inflammatory response to bacterial infection of the tissue around teeth. As the condition worsens, the gums begin to pull away, exposing teeth roots and bone.
Notably, the incidence of periodontitis becomes more prevalent with age and with populations worldwide living longer, developing a solid understanding of its underlying causes and progression is important. In a study recently published in Nature Communications on March 28, 2024, researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) found a way to achieve this by improving upon a widely used animal model to study periodontitis. Studying periodontitis directly in humans is challenging.
As a result, scientists often resort to animal models for preclinical research. For instance, the "mouse ligature-induced periodontitis model," since its inception in 2012, has enabled researchers to study the cellular mechanisms underlying this condition. Simply put, with this model, periodontal disease is artificially induced by ligating silk threads onto the molars of mice models, which induces plaque accumulation.
While convenient and effective, this model, however, fails to capture the complete picture of periodontitis. "Even though the periodontal tissue is composed of gingiva, periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and cementum, analyses are.