Porphyromonas gingivalis , a periodontitis causing bacterium, induces memory impairment and age-dependent neuroinflammation in mice.

Background: A possible relationship between periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been reported. However, there is limited information on the association between the Porphyromonas gingivalis ( P. gingivalis ) periodontal infection and the pathological features of AD. The hypothesis that P. gingivalis periodontal infection may cause cognitive impairment via age-dependent neuroinflammation was tested.

Results: Thirty 4-week-old (young) female C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into two groups, the control group and the experimental group. Thirty 12-month-old (middle-aged) were grouped as above. The mouth of the mice in the experimental group was infected with P. gingivalis . Morris water maze(MWM) was performed to assess the learning and memory ability of mice after 6 weeks. Moreover, the expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the mice brain tissues were determined by Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA) and immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that the learning and memory abilities of the middle-aged P. gingivalis infected mice were impaired. Moreover, the expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the brain tissues of the middle-aged P. gingivalis infected mice were increased.

Conclusions: These results suggest that P. gingivalis periodontal infection may cause cognitive impairment via the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the brain tissues of middle-aged mice.