Understanding immune responses in periodontal disease

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Understanding immune responses in periodontal disease

• IRAS ID

  299079

• Contact name

  Joanne Konkel

• Contact email

  joanne.konkel@manchester.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  University of Manchester

• Duration of Study in the UK

  3 years, 9 months, 0 days

• Research summary

  Why is this research important?
  Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease affecting the gums and teeth. It affects nearly 50% of the global population, causes tooth loss and bone destruction, and exerts effects outside of the oral cavity. Periodontitis results from an aberrant immune response against commensal/friendly bacteria that live on teeth and is a risk factor for other chronic inflammatory diseases including diabetes and heart disease. Despite knowing this, how the immune system functions in the oral cavity remains elusive, especially within the gums; the interface between the internal body, the teeth, and commensal/friendly bacteria.

  In gum tissue the immune system must mediate a delicate balance, to protect against any possible infectious agent whilst distinguishing bad invaders from commensal bacteria. This is difficult and to achieve this the immune system is carefully tailored to gum tissue creating a highly specialized network of immune cells. The aim of this application is to better define the unique immunological network that operates within gum tissue. Understanding this is key to outlining the pathogenesis of periodontitis and its systemic consequences.

  What is involved for participants?
  Study participants will allow a single sample of their gum tissue to be collected for analysis of the immune cell populations within it. This will occur during their treatment at the University Dental Hospital of Manchester (UDHM). Where possible samples of tooth-associated bacteria and blood samples will also be obtained. Information on the outcome of study participant’s Dental treatment will also be collected to correlate treatment outcome with immune cell function. Eligible participants will be those patients visiting the UDHM for treatment of periodontitis, who are broadly healthy and over the age of 18 years old.

  Further details: This study is funded by the Wellcome Trust and will recruit from the UDHM. Please contact Rajpal Tattar for more details.

• REC name

  Wales REC 4

• REC reference

  23/WA/0172

• Date of REC Opinion

  24 Jul 2023

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion