Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Response in Periodontal Disease

Completed

Conditions studied: Periodontitis, Gingivitis

In brief

Periodontal disease causes inflammation and damage to the tissues that support the teeth. This study looks at whether stress inside gum cells contributes to this damage. Cells have a stress response system that helps them deal with damaged or misfolded proteins. This study measured several markers of this cell stress response (called GRP78, PERK, IRE1, ATF6, MANF, CRELD2) along with a marker of inflammation (TNF-α). These were measured in fluid collected from around the teeth and in small samples of gum tissue. Researchers compared 72 healthy adults who did not smoke, divided into three equal groups: people with healthy gums, people with mild gum inflammation (gingivitis), and people with a more advanced form of gum disease (periodontitis). The results showed that markers of cell stress were higher in people with periodontitis compared to the other two groups, both in the fluid around the teeth and in the gum tissue itself. This suggests that cell stress inside gum tissue may play a role in the inflammation and tissue breakdown seen in periodontitis. These findings may help researchers better understand what drives gum disease and could guide future work on new ways to detect or treat it.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07751419

Run by

Inonu University

People needed

72

Starts

2025-09-15

Expected to finish

2026-02-15

Last updated by the study team

2026-08-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 65. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Inclusion criteria for the Healthy Control group were: presence of ≥ 20 teeth in the mouth, probing pocket depth (PPD) ≤ 3 mm, the percentage of bleeding sites for the whole mouth < 10%, and, on radiographic examination, a distance of ≤ 3 mm between the cemento-enamel junction and the alveolar bone crest in 95% of all teeth. Inclusion criteria for the Gingivitis group were: presence of ≥ 20 teeth in the mouth, PPD ≤ 3 mm, % of bleeding sites for the whole mouth ≥ 10%, and, on radiographic examination, a distance of ≤ 3 mm between the cemento-enamel junction and the alveolar bone crest in 95% of all teeth. Inclusion criteria for the Stage 3 Periodontitis group were: presence of ≥ 15 teeth in the mouth, more than 30% of teeth affected by periodontal disease, affected teeth exhibiting probing depths of 6 mm or more and clinical attachment loss (CAL) of ≥ 5 mm, vertical bone loss of 3 mm or more, class 2 or 3 furcation involvement, and radiographic evidence of alveolar bone loss extending to the middle third and beyond (33%) in the relevant teeth

You may not qualify if…

• Exclusion criteria for all groups were defined as: presence of any systemic disease, regular use of any medication, smoking, pregnancy or lactation, periodontal treatment within the last 6 months, antibiotic use within the last 6 months, and the presence of prosthetic restorations on the teeth to be sampled.

Where it is running

• Kubra Aral — Malatya, Turkey (Türkiye)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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