ArticleAlzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association2012
Serum antibodies to periodontal pathogens are a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.
Article in Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 238 papers, 15 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
238 citing papers in PubMed, 15 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 474 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between spirochaetal infection and neurodegenerative diseases: a systematic review and quantitative synthesis of observational studies.Journal of medical microbiology · 2026Pooled it
- Association between periodontal disease and Alzheimer's disease: a scoping review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Periodontal Disease and Alzheimer's: Insights from a Systematic Literature Network Analysis.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2024Pooled it
- Oral Health as a Risk Factor for Alzheimer Disease.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2024Pooled it
- Association between Periodontal Disease and Cognitive Impairment in Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Host insulin resistance caused byFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2023Pooled it
- Is Periodontitis Associated with Age-Related Cognitive Impairment? The Systematic Review, Confounders Assessment and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Analysis the Link between Periodontal Diseases and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- The Effect of Periodontitis on Dementia and Cognitive Impairment: A Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Is There Any Association Between Neurodegenerative Diseases and Periodontitis? A Systematic Review.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2021Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of the effect of binge drinking on the oral microbiome and its relation to Alzheimer's disease.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Influence of periodontal disease on risk of dementia: a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis.European journal of epidemiology · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Association Between Periodontitis and Cognitive Impairment in Adults: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Pooled it
- Clinical periodontal variables in patients with and without dementia-a systematic review and meta-analysis.Clinical oral investigations · 2018Pooled it
- Review
- Article
- The relationship betweenJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Oral Microbiota, the Oral-Brain Axis, and Neurodegeneration: Mechanisms and Dietary Modulation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Candidalysin InhibitsInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
178 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChronic inflammation in periodontal disease has been suggested as a potential risk factor in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of this study was to examine serum antibody levels to bacteria of periodontal disease in participants who eventually converted to AD compared with the antibody levels in control subjects.
methodsSerum samples from 158 participants in the Biologically Resilient Adults in Neurological Studies research program at the University of Kentucky were analyzed for immunoglobulin G antibody levels to seven oral bacteria associated with periodontitis, including Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Campylobacter rectus, Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Tannerella forsythia, and Prevotella intermedia. All 158 participants were cognitively intact at baseline venous blood draw. In all, 81 of the participants developed either mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD or both, and 77 controls remained cognitively intact in the years of follow-up. Antibody levels were compared between controls and subjects with AD at baseline draw and after conversion and controls and subjects with MCI at baseline draw and after conversion using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. AD and MCI participants were not directly compared. Linear regression models were used to adjust for potential confounding.
resultsAntibody levels to F nucleatum and P intermedia were significantly increased (α = 0.05) at baseline serum draw in the patients with AD compared with controls. These results remained significant when controlling for baseline age, Mini-Mental State Examination score, and apolipoprotein epsilon 4 status.
conclusionsThis study provides initial data that demonstrate elevated antibodies to periodontal disease bacteria in subjects years before cognitive impairment and suggests that periodontal disease could potentially contribute to the risk of AD onset/progression. Additional cohort studies profiling oral clinical presentation with systemic response and AD and prospective studies to evaluate any cause-and-effect association are warranted.
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Registered trials
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