FUNIBER Italy director, Dr. Maurizio Battino, in 2021, collaborated in a study on molecular pathophysiological mechanisms in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and periodontitis.
Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by high blood glucose levels and is one of the leading causes of death in the world among non-communicable diseases. Periodontitis, on the other hand, is an advanced form of periodontal disease and is very common. It is caused by imbalances in the oral microbiota, although it is also affected by risk factors such as diabetes, smoking, and genetic predisposition. Diabetes is a factor that influences the progression of periodontitis.
Inflammation is the link between diabetes and periodontal disease. So far, inflammation includes vascular and tissue changes, but new technologies may help to analyze data at the intracellular level that could explain more precisely how cells respond to aggression.
Alterations in diabetes and periodontitis involve complex cellular aspects that expose the pathological process and give reasons for the relationship between the two conditions. Inflammation as a cellular mechanism responds to aggression depending on its initial assertion. Plasma membrane modification, impaired mitochondrial function, inappropriate energy regulation, incorrect recognition of aggression, and inadequate waste removal may be the intracellular mechanisms that explain the physiological process behind the relationship between diabetes and periodontal disease.
The aim of this research was to update and emphasize the evidence on the molecular pathophysiological alterations involved in periodontitis and T2D in order to help further investigate and seek other perspectives to provide better clinical management of patients suffering from both diseases, to include them in therapeutic and prevention guidelines, and thus obtain better results.
If you want to know more about this fascinating study, click here.
For further research, check the UNEATLANTICO repository. The Iberoamerican University Foundation (FUNIBER) offers various programs of study in the area of health and nutrition. If you want to know more, click here.