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What Is the Link between Gum Disease and Rheumatoid Arthritis?

One type of gum infection seems to put the immune system into overdrive and trigger the development of rheumatoid arthritis.

Periodontal disease has been associated with heart problems. Now investigators find that such gum infections may also be tied to the autoimmune condition rheumatoid arthritis.

What Is the Connection?

The study identified a type of bacteria, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, that provokes the immune system into overreacting in both gum disease and severe arthritis. Doctors have long suspected a link between RA and periodontal infections, but they had not identified the responsible germ.

Protein Citrullination:

A. actinomycetemcomitans apparently puts a process called protein citrullination into overdrive. Hypercitrullination in turn signals the immune system to produce antibodies against these proteins.

Autoimmune Destruction:

The antibodies also attack the individual’s tissues and cause destruction. That is a hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis.

Not everyone with rheumatoid arthritis is infected with the bacteria that has been identified, so the researchers will now be looking for others that act in a similar manner to trigger an overactive autoimmune response. It might eventually lead to the development of medications that could kill the germs triggering the inflammation and thus stop joint destruction before it gets too far along.

Science Translational Medicine, Dec. 14, 2016

Other risk factors have been identified for rheumatoid arthritis. Some research shows that people who have been exposed to mercury are more likely to develop RA. Sun exposure (and presumably the attendant vitamin D produced by sunlit skin) appears to be protective.

Rheumatoid arthritis has also been associated with inflammation of the blood vessels (Best Practice & Research. Clinical Rheumatology, Oct., 2016). We don’t know if the inflammation is caused by infection with A. actinomycetemcomitans, but infection may cause inflammation, and inflammation of blood vessels might contribute to heart trouble. Other infections, such as Bartonella, have also been linked to RA.

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About the Author
Terry Graedon, PhD, is a medical anthropologist and co-host of The People’s Pharmacy radio show, co-author of The People’s Pharmacy syndicated newspaper columns and numerous books, and co-founder of The People’s Pharmacy website. Terry taught in the Duke University School of Nursing and was an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology. She is a Fellow of the Society of Applied Anthropology. Terry is one of the country's leading authorities on the science behind folk remedies..
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