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BMC Medicine
Published in: BMC Medicine 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research article

Autophagy in periodontitis patients and gingival fibroblasts: unraveling the link between chronic diseases and inflammation

Authors: Pedro Bullon, Mario David Cordero, José Luis Quiles, Maria del Carmen Ramirez-Tortosa, Adrian Gonzalez-Alonso, Simona Alfonsi, Rocio García-Marín, Manuel de Miguel, Maurizio Battino

Published in: BMC Medicine | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

Periodontitis, the most prevalent chronic inflammatory disease, has been related to cardiovascular diseases. Autophagy provides a mechanism for the turnover of cellular organelles and proteins through a lysosome-dependent degradation pathway. The aim of this research was to study the role of autophagy in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with periodontitis and gingival fibroblasts treated with a lipopolysaccharide of Porphyromonas gingivalis. Autophagy-dependent mechanisms have been proposed in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disorders and in other diseases related to periodontitis, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Thus it is important to study the role of autophagy in the pathophysiology of periodontitis.

Methods

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with periodontitis (n = 38) and without periodontitis (n = 20) were used to study autophagy. To investigate the mechanism of autophagy, we evaluated the influence of a lipopolysaccharide from P. gingivalis in human gingival fibroblasts, and autophagy was monitored morphologically and biochemically. Autophagosomes were observed by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy.

Results

We found increased levels of autophagy gene expression and high levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with periodontitis compared with controls. A significantly positive correlation between both was observed. In human gingival fibroblasts treated with lipopolysaccharide from P. gingivalis, there was an increase of protein and transcript of autophagy-related protein 12 (ATG12) and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 alpha LC3. A reduction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species induced a decrease in autophagy whereas inhibition of autophagy in infected cells increased apoptosis, showing the protective role of autophagy.

Conclusion

Results from the present study suggest that autophagy is an important and shared mechanism in other conditions related to inflammation or alterations of the immune system, such as periodontitis.
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Metadata
Title
Autophagy in periodontitis patients and gingival fibroblasts: unraveling the link between chronic diseases and inflammation
Authors
Pedro Bullon
Mario David Cordero
José Luis Quiles
Maria del Carmen Ramirez-Tortosa
Adrian Gonzalez-Alonso
Simona Alfonsi
Rocio García-Marín
Manuel de Miguel
Maurizio Battino
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Medicine / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1741-7015
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-10-122

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