14/08/2025
Gum disease bacteria make heart attack damage much worse. 🦷❤️
Scientists discovered that they stop heart cells from repairing themselves.
Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University have found that Porphyromonas gingivalis—a common gum disease bacterium—can worsen heart damage after a heart attack by interfering with the heart’s natural repair process.
The study, published in the International Journal of Oral Science, showed that gingipain, a toxin released by P. gingivalis, blocks the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes in cardiac cells. This disruption halts autophagy, the process that clears damaged cellular components, leading to greater muscle cell dysfunction, cell death, and a higher risk of cardiac rupture.
In experiments, mice infected with wild-type P. gingivalis suffered more severe post-heart attack damage than those infected with a genetically modified version of the bacterium lacking gingipain. The findings suggest that untreated gum infections could significantly impair the heart’s ability to heal after a myocardial infarction. Researchers say that maintaining oral health—through brushing, flossing, and treating periodontal disease—may be an overlooked but vital way to protect heart health and improve recovery outcomes after heart attacks.
source
"Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontal pathogen, impairs post-infarcted myocardium by inhibiting autophagosome–lysosome fusion” by Yuka Shiheido-Watanabe, Yasuhiro Maejima, Shun Nakagama, Qintao Fan, Natsuko Tamura and Tetsuo Sasano, 18 September 2023, International Journal of Oral Science.
