AUTHOR=Li Dongcheng , Ren Tengzhu , Li Hao , Liao Geng , Zhang Xiong 

TITLE=Porphyromonas gingivalis: A key role in Parkinson's disease with cognitive impairment?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.945523

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.945523

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<p>Cognitive impairment (CI) is a common complication of Parkinson's disease (PD). The major features of Parkinson's disease with cognitive impairment (PD-CI) include convergence of α-Synuclein (α-Syn) and Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathologies, neuroinflammation, and dysbiosis of gut microbiota. <italic>Porphyromonas gingivalis</italic> (<italic>P. gingivalis</italic>) is an important pathogen in periodontitis. Recent research has suggested a role of P. gingivalis and its virulence factor in the pathogenesis of PD and AD, in particular concerning neuroinflammation and deposition of α-Synuclein (α-Syn) and amyloid-β (Aβ). Furthermore, in animal models, oral <italic>P. gingivalis</italic> could cause neurodegeneration through regulating the gut-brain axis, suggesting an oral-gut-brain axis might exist. In this article, we discussed the pathological characteristics of PD-CI and the role of <italic>P. gingivalis</italic> in them.</p>