Review Article
Year: 2020 | Month: January-March | Volume: 5 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 89-97
Role of Viruses in Periodontal Diseases
Mithlesh Bhagat1, Roopali Tapashetti2, Ghousia Fatima3, Neha Bhutani2
1Post graduate student, 2Reader, 3HOD & Professor,
Department of Periodontics, Al Badar Rural Dental College and Hospital, Kalaburagi, Karnataka
Corresponding Author: Mithlesh Bhagat
ABSTRACT
Periodontitis is a disease attributable to multiple infectious agents and interconnected cellular and humoral host immune response. However, it has been difficult to unravel the precise role of various putative pathogens and host responses in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. It is generally believed that both gingivitis and periodontitis are caused by bacteria colonizing on the tooth surfaces and that the major mechanisms of periodontal destruction are initiated by bacteria. Although constantly colonized by varying numbers and species of bacteria even established periodontal lesions do not invariably progress. Some viruses like Herpesviruses can infect or alter structural cells and host defense cells of the periodontium and thereby reduce the ability of periodontal tissues to resist bacterial insults. Tissue damage induced by cytotoxic immune reactions may also facilitate the binding of bacteria to exposed basement membranes. Viruses are also capable of infecting and impairing polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs), macrophages, and lymphocytes. Finally, viruses may attenuate or even evade immune responses by stimulating the release of cytokines from cells that in turn inhibit expression of MHC molecules. Viruses can act synergistically to enhance the replication or infectivity of one another. Hence it is suggested that the coexistence of periodontal HCMV, EBV and possibly other viruses, periodontopathic bacteria, and local host immune responses should be viewed as a precarious balance that has the potential to lead to periodontal destruction.
Keywords: Acute Necrotizing Nlcerative Gingivitis, Ebsteinbarr virus, Herpesvirus, Periodontitis,