Researchers Discover How Gum Disease Can Cause Dementia

Scientists from Japan's Kyushu University and China's Beijing Institute of Technology have determined how a substance responsible for causing dementia builds up in the brain and affects memories, reports the Asahi Shimbun . "Periodontal disease bacteria speed up the accumulation of an abnormal protein in the brain," said Kyushu Professor Hiro Take. "There is a possibility that treating and preventing this disease may stop dementia from occurring or progressing." The investigators introduced gum disease bacteria into the abdomens of mice for three weeks, and compared them with healthy controls. The amount of a key receptor protein, which carries amyloid beta into the brain, doubled on the surface of the cerebral blood vessels in the mice with periodontal disease, accompanied by a 10-fold increase in the volume of amyloid beta in brain cells. Tests also indicated that the infected mice suffered deterioration in memory. Adding an agent to inhibit the receptor that triggers amyloid beta also successfully reduced the amount of the protein in infected cells by 40 percent.