New material stops the growth of harmful bacteria that cause periodontitis

Targeted, effective and with few side effects: A new way to fight periodontitis could make the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics useless. It was developed and tested for the first time by a team from Martin Luther Halle-Wittenberg University (MLU), the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Medicine and Immunology IZI and Periotrap Pharmaceuticals GmbH. The goal is to simply neutralize bacteria that cause periodontitis while squeezing harmless bacteria. The study revealed in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Periodontitis is a common bacterial inflammation in the gums. According to the WHO World Health Organization Oral Health Survey, nearly 10 percent of the world’s population is affected by a severe form of the disease, which can cause tooth loss as well as increase the risk of other diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease . To date, treatment has largely involved the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics that attack all bacteria in the mouth.

However, this has some disadvantages: “One other effect of the treatment is that it also destroys the harmless or beneficial bacteria in the oral cavity. In addition, the bacteria can protect against the development of antibiotics, “explains Dr. Mirko Buchholz of Periotrap. Pharmaceuticals, which led the new study with Professor Milton T. Stubbs, biotechnology at MLU.

So the researchers looked for a way to get rid of the harmful bacteria in the mouth only. A team from the Fraunhofer IZI Department of Drug Design and Target Testing in Halle developed a test material that attacks glutaminyl cyclase, a specific enzyme in the bacteria that plays a specific role in metabolism. Inactivity of this enzyme damages the bacteria and, in fact, periodontitis cannot develop.

To demonstrate efficacy, the researchers teamed up with the Clinics for Dental Medicine at the University of Bern, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and the University of Louisville in Kentucky (USA). They found that the new substance successfully inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria.

The new test material has a unique feature: It only works on the harmful bacteria. “Our target, glutaminyl cyclase, comes in two different versions. Mammals and other mammals and mammals typically have one variant of the enzyme.

The two variants work in the same way, but they are very different in structure. It’s a bit like flat-tip screwdrivers against Phillips, “Stubbs explains. Surprisingly, the bacteria that induce periodontitis have a variety of mammals of the enzyme.” This is crucial for our approach because it give us a potential target to eliminate only the bacterial pathogens and leave them completely harmless, “says Mirko Buchholz. To avoid possible side effects in advance , the team compared the bacterial enzyme with the human difference. “There are small but important differences between the enzymes,” Stubbs said. “These differences are probably enough to not the new substance affects the human enzymes, so only minor side effects are expected.

The researchers ’study provides initial evidence that the approach works fundamentally. Further studies and subsequent trial in clinical trials are now in good standing. So it may take several years for the research from Halle to become a market drug.