Presentation Category
Research
Introduction/Context/Diagnosis
Chronic Periodontitis (ChP) is an inflammatory condition that results from oral dysbiosis and host immune dysfunction. Epidemiologic evidence has shown that men are more susceptible to ChP than women. Despite gender differences in behavior and socioeconomic status influencing oral health, the biological sex-associated immunological mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ChP are unclear. The objective of this study is to identify sex differences in the immune responses to chronic periodontitis.
Methods/Treatment Plan
We used a high-parameter mass cytometry immunoassay to perform an in-depth single-cell proteomic analysis of the peripheral blood immune responses in 14 ChP patients (6 males and 8 females) and 14 healthy control subjects (6 males and 8 females). Preliminary analysis was performed on 1) male vs. female in the control group, 2) male vs. female in the ChP group, 3) control vs. ChP in males, 4) control vs. ChP in females. Over 520 immune features representing the relative distribution of innate and adaptive immune cell subsets as well as their endogenous or stimulated intracellular functional responses to Porphyromonas gingivalis-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS), TNF-±, IFN-±, and a cocktail of IL-2, -4, and -6, and GM-CSF were studied.
Results/Outcome
We found 16 features in control subjects and 7 in ChP patients that were significantly different between males and females. Specifically, endogenous phosphorylated P38, a component of the MyD88 pathway, in neutrophils was higher in females compared to males in healthy control subjects, which was consistent with previously described sexual dimorphism in the innate immune responses. The analysis also revealed exaggerated proinflammatory response to LPS in circulating neutrophils and monocytes from male patients with ChP, but not female patients with ChP.
Significance/Conclusions
Our preliminary findings demonstrate the possibility of a sex-specific immune dysfunction associated with ChP that can be detected in the systemic circulation. Future studies in a larger cohort are needed to validate our results.
Format
Event
Sex Differences in the Immune Response to Chronic Periodontitis
Chronic Periodontitis (ChP) is an inflammatory condition that results from oral dysbiosis and host immune dysfunction. Epidemiologic evidence has shown that men are more susceptible to ChP than women. Despite gender differences in behavior and socioeconomic status influencing oral health, the biological sex-associated immunological mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of ChP are unclear. The objective of this study is to identify sex differences in the immune responses to chronic periodontitis.
