Periodontitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Periodontitis, including details on treatment, causes, gingivitis, symptoms.

A non-conservative, coding single-nucleotide polymorphism in the N-terminal region of lactoferrin is associated with aggressive periodontitis in an African-American, but not a Caucasian population.

Jordan WJ, Eskdale J, Lennon GP, Pestoff R, Wu L, Fine DH, Gallagher G

Department of Oral Biology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, USA.

Lactoferrin is an antimicrobial protein which plays an important role in regulating bacteria that are associated with aggressive periodontitis. Lactoferrin kills directly (via its strongly cationic N-terminal region) and indirectly, through sequestering the iron that bacteria require for growth. As aggressive periodontitis has a strong heritable component, we hypothesized that genetic variation within the lactoferrin gene may play a role in susceptibility to this condition. We have identified and examined a novel, functional, single-point A/G nucleotide mutation causing a threonine/alanine substitution at position 11 (T11A) of the secreted lactoferrin protein. In a pilot case-controlled study of aggressive periodontitis, analysis of 46 African-American patients and 78 controls showed that patients were twice as likely to express the G nucleotide (alanine) allele over controls (60.3 vs 30.4%; P=0.0007, odds ratio=2.564, 95% CI=1.475-4.459). A Caucasian population of 77 patients and 131 controls showed no such association (P=0.5201, odds ratio=0.862, 95% CI=0.548-1.356). The data presented provide a new insight into the genetic susceptibility to aggressive periodontitis.

Published 27 October 2005 in Genes Immun, 6(7): 632-5.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Periodontitis Research Today. All Rights Reserved.