Periodontitis and inflammatory bowel disease: a meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis was reported to be associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the association between them has not been firmly established in the existing literature. Therefore, this meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between periodontitis and IBD. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched for publications up to August 1, 2019 to include all eligible studies. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated to determine the association between periodontal disease and IBD using a random or fixed effects model according to heterogeneity. RESULTS: Six eligible studies involving 599 IBD patients and 448 controls were included. The pooled OR between periodontitis and IBD was 3.17 (95% CI: 2.09–4.8) with no heterogeneity observed (I(2) = 0.00%). The pooled ORs were 3.64 (95% CI: 2.33–5.67) and 5.37 (95% CI: 3.30–8.74) for the associations between periodontitis and the two sub-categories of IBD, Crohn’ s disease and ulcerative colitis, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that periodontitis was significantly associated with IBD. However, the mechanisms underlying periodontitis and IBD development are undetermined. Further studies are needed to elucidate this relationship.