Drug Oxantel may Guard Against Periodontitis

A recent study shows how a drug that's currently used to treat intestinal worms could help protect individuals against periodontitis, an advanced gum disease that if left untreated, can erode the structures of the bone that hold together the teeth of the upper jaw.

Current treatment for this health issue involves scraping dental plaque, otherwise known as polymicrobial biofilm, from the root of the tooth.

As this can be an unpleasant and often times costly procedure, investigators showed a model procedure in an animal of periodontitis that the drug Oxantel inhibits this growth by interfering with an enzyme that bacteria require for biofilm formation.

According to corresponding author of the study Eric Reynolds of the University of Melbourne, Australia, it does so in a dose-dependent manner.

The study notes the following, courtesy of a press release: "The researchers began their search for a therapy for periodontitis by studying the symbioses of the periodontal pathogens, using genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, in animal models of periodontitis. They soon found that the periodontal biofilm depended for growth on the availability of iron and heme (an iron-containing molecule related to hemoglobin), and that restricting these reduced levels of the enzyme, fumarate reductase. Since Oxantel was known to inhibit fumarate reductase in some bacteria, they then successfully tested its ability to inhibit fumarate reductase activity in Porphyromonas gingivalis, one of the major bacterial components of periodontitis biofilms. Fumarate reductase is absent from humans, making it an ideal drug target.

"They also showed that Oxantel disrupted the growth of polymicrobial biofilms containing P. gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola, a typical composition of periodontal biofilms, despite the fact that the latter alone is unaffected by Oxantel.

"The researchers found that treatment with Oxantel downregulated six P. gingivalis gene products, and upregulated 22 gene products, all of which are part of a regulon (a genetic unit) that controls availability of heme."

As periodontitis affects an estimated 30 to 47 percent of the adult population, with more severe formations affecting anywhere from 5 to 10 percent, various cases of the health issue can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and dementia in some cases.

Additionally, this problem can also increase the risk of cancer of the head and neck, esophagus, tongue and the pancreas.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.