Porphyromonas gingivalis, a periodontitis causing bacterium, induces memory impairment and age-dependent neuroinflammation in mice

BACKGROUND: A possible relationship between periodontitis and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been reported. However, there is limited information on the association between the Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) periodontal infection and the pathological features of AD. The hypothesis that P. gingivalis periodontal infection may cause cognitive impairment via age-dependent neuroinflammation was tested. RESULTS: Thirty 4-week-old (young) female C57BL/6 J mice were randomly divided into two groups, the control group and the experimental group. Thirty 12-month-old (middle-aged) were grouped as above. The mouth of the mice in the experimental group was infected with P. gingivalis. Morris water maze(MWM) was performed to assess the learning and memory ability of mice after 6 weeks. Moreover, the expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the mice brain tissues were determined by Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay(ELISA) and immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that the learning and memory abilities of the middle-aged P. gingivalis infected mice were impaired. Moreover, the expression levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the brain tissues of the middle-aged P. gingivalis infected mice were increased. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that P. gingivalis periodontal infection may cause cognitive impairment via the release of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in the brain tissues of middle-aged mice. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12979-017-0110-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.