The link between oral microbes and systemic disease: version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the link between oral microbes and systemic disease
IRAS ID
288518
Contact name
Angela H Nobbs
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
There are a multitude of different microbes living within the human mouth. Normally these microbes do not cause harm but sometimes, if they are able access the bloodstream, they can cause systemic disease such as heart disease. It is thought that some types of dental procedures, such as extractions or scaling, or even just toothbrushing or flossing, can lead to oral microbes in the blood.
To cause systemic disease, oral microbes need to be able to survive within the blood and evade our normal immune defences. Some oral microbes may also cause small, disc-shaped fragments in the blood known as platelets to stick together and form clots. This unwanted clot formation may then lead to diseases such as heart valve disease (infective endocarditis). However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that enable the oral microbes to act in this way are poorly understood.
This project aims to examine in detail the mechanisms by which oral microbes can survive within blood and cause systemic disease. Specifically, blood will be taken from the forearm of healthy adult volunteers and used to investigate the ability of different bacteria to survive within whole blood or interact with individual blood components (e.g. immune cells such as platelets or neutrophils; antimicrobial proteins such as complement).
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
22/NI/0030
Date of REC Opinion
1 Feb 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion