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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Bacteria and Host
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1451683

Porphyromonas gingivalis triggers microglia activation and neurodegenerative processes through NOX4

Provisionally accepted
Anna Magnusson Anna Magnusson *Rongrong Wu Rongrong Wu Isak Demirel Isak Demirel *
  • Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Periodontitis and infections with periodontal bacteria have been highlighted as risk factors for dementia. In recent years attention has been drawn to the role of microglia cells in neurodegenerative diseases. However, there is limited knowledge of the influence of periodontal bacteria on microglia cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the interactions between the periodontal bacteria P. gingivalis and microglia cells, and to unravel if these interactions could contribute to Alzheimer's pathology.We found, through microarray analysis, that stimulation of microglia cells with P. gingivalis resulted in upregulation of several Alzheimer´s disease associated genes, including NOX4. We also showed that P. gingivalis LPS mediated ROS production and IL-6 and IL-8 induction via NOX4 in microglia. The viability of neurons was shown to be reduced by conditioned media from microglia cells stimulated with P. gingivalis LPS, and that the reduction was NOX4 dependent. The levels of total and phosphorylated Tau in neurons were increased by conditioned media from microglia cells stimulated with P. gingivalis or LPS. This increase was NOX4 dependent. In summary our findings give us a potential mechanistic explanation of how the periodontal pathogen P. gingivalis could trigger or exacerbate AD pathogenesis.

    Keywords: Microglia, Alzheimer´s disease, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Neuroinflammation, NOX4

    Received: 19 Jun 2024; Accepted: 16 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Magnusson, Wu and Demirel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Anna Magnusson, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
    Isak Demirel, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden

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