Study: ‘Leaky gum’ the cause of systemic diseases

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A Korean research team has found that bacteria introduced through the gums are the cause of systemic diseases such as cancer, dementia, and inflammation.

The study by Apple Tree Medical Foundation and DaxMedi Co. set out to prove the concept of ‘leaky gum’, in which bacteria enter the mouth through the gums as one of the main causes of oral infections.

According to the researchers, the mucous membranes throughout our body block foreign substances, and when the boundary of the mucous membrane is broken down, various inflammatory reactions occur. In particular, when the epithelial cell boundary layer of the intestinal mucosa is damaged, various foreign substances such as bacteria penetrate inside and cause various immune diseases. This is also called ‘leaky gut syndrome’.

The oral cavity, said the research team, is as vulnerable to defense as the intestines and provides a good environment for oral bacteria to inhabit.

Inspired by the concept of ‘leaky gut’, they sought the scientific evidence behind what they suspect can also lead to the ‘leaky gum’ situation. They paid attention to the fact that bacteria penetrate much more easily through the gums of the periodontal pocket than through the intestinal mucosa.

True to their initial hypothesis, they found that oral bacteria can penetrate into blood vessels through the mucous membrane of the damaged gums and cause various diseases such as cancer, dementia, inflammation throughout the body. They also examined the junctional epithelium, and their anatomical and structural functions were compared with the skin and intestinal mucosa.

Hwang In-seong, head of the research institute, said, “This paper is the result of systematic efforts to verify academic research on various diseases caused by oral bacteria.”

The study was published in the SCI-level international academic journal Cells (IF=6.6) under the title ‘Leaky Gum: The Revisited Origin of Systemic Diseases’.