Immune-Regulating Drug Improves Periodontal Health in Mice
The immune-suppressing drug used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, rapamycin, has been reported to reduce bone loss, inflammation, and changes to oral bacteria in older mice with periodontal diseases, according to a recent study.
The immune-suppressing drug used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, rapamycin, has been reported to reduce bone loss, inflammation, and changes to oral bacteria in older mice with periodontal diseases, according to a recent study.
Investigators of the study published in elife used the three-dimensional imaging technique micro-computed tomography to measure the periodontal bone of the rapamycin-treated and untreated mice after the drug was added to the food of middle-aged mice for 8 weeks. When compared to the untreated mice, the mice that consumed the drug for 8 weeks had grown new bone during this time. The paper, “Rapamycin Rejuvenates Oral Health in Aging Mice,” is available in elife.
From Dimensions of Dental Hygiene. June 2020;18(6):10.
