Inhibition of pre-existing natural periodontitis in non-human primates by a locally administered peptide inhibitor of complement C3
Maekawa T, Briones RA, Resuello RR, Tuplano JV, Hajishengallis E, Kajikawa T, Koutsogiannaki S, Garcia CA, Ricklin D, Lambris JD, Hajishengallis G. J Clin Periodontol. 2016 Jan 5 | doi: 10.1111/jcpe.12507. [Epub ahead of print]
Summary
Findings from a study led by University of Pennsylvania researchers point to a way in which periodontitis, a gum disease present in nearly half of all adults in the United States, can be effectively reversed. The work, which appears in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology, employed an inhibitor of a protein called C3, a component of the body’s complement system, which is involved in immunity and inflammatory responses. Delivering this inhibitor, Cp40, to the periodontal tissue just once a week reversed naturally occurring chronic periodontitis inflammation in a preclinical model.
Read more in the University of Pennsylvania news release.
