Confocal fluorosence microscopy: human aortic smooth muscle cells infected with P. gingivalis
A team has shown a periodontal pathogen causes changes in gene expression that boost inflammation and atherosclerosis in aortic smooth muscle cells. The circumstantial evidence that led to this study was ample. The periodontal pathogen, Porphyromonas gingivalis, has also been found in coronary artery plaques of heart attack patients. And in 2 species of animal models, P. gingivalis has been shown to cause and accelerate formation of coronary and aortic atherosclerosis.
They began by culturing human aortic smooth muscle cells, and infecting them with P. gingivalis. They found that gingipains, virulence factors produced by P...
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