Metabolomics Insight into Periodontal Disease Published in the Journal of Dental Research

Metabolon, Inc. has announced the publication of "Metabolomics Revealed Elevated Macromolecular Degradation in Periodontal Disease," in the Journal of Dental Research.

Non-targeted biochemical profiling (metabolomics) provided insight into the biochemical mechanisms underlying periodontitis pathogenesis and identified potential disease biomarkers.

The study was carried out by Virginia M. Barnes and colleagues of Colgate-Palmolive, and SUNY-Buffalo, School of Dental Medicine, with co-authors from Metabolon. Periodontal disease, described as inflammation of the gums, is among the most common infectious diseases.

Previously, untargeted metabolomic profiling of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) found that metabolites associated with inflammation, oxidative stress, tissue degradation, and bacterial metabolism were significantly induced by periodontal disease.

This report expanded the analysis to investigate the impact of periodontitis on saliva, the primary fluid in the oral cavity.

In the periodontal disease subjects, researchers measured increased levels of multiple classes of biochemicals, including dipeptide, amino acid, carbohydrate, lipids and nucleotide metabolites.

These changes indicated periodontitis is associated with increased degradation of proteins, triacylglycerol, glycerolphospholipids, polysaccharides and polynucleotides.

This macromolecular degradation provides a fertile environment for bacterial expansion as a result of the increased availability of metabolites to oral microflora for energy production.

Importantly, this more favorable energy environment for oral bacteria potentially exacerbates the disease state.

Since saliva is a readily collected material, in contrast to GCF, and biochemically rich, the current study provides an extensive pool of potential biomarkers for evaluating periodontal disease in a point of care environment.

This research is being conducted and shared in the hopes there will be a better understanding of oral diseases on a subclinical level. This enhanced and objective learning will help researchers in efforts towards improving both oral health as well as overall health.