Background: Periodontal disease is an inflammatory, dysbiotic condition. Studies have shown that in the elderly, periodontal disease was associated with cognitive dysfunction and Alzheimer's disease.
Objective: To investigate whether young healthy subjects with periodontal disease have lower cognition compared to those without periodontal disease. The salivary cytokines (IL-1β, TNF-α) levels in relation to cognition were also tested.
Methods: In a monocenter, cross-sectional study, forty subjects [mean age (SD) = 34 (5) and 48% female] from western Romania were classified into periodontal disease conditions using radiographic assessment: 10 subjects had aggressive periodontitis (AGG_P), 20 chronic mild-moderate periodontitis (CR_P), and 10 no periodontitis (NL_P). Neuropsychological assessment performed by standardized neurologists and psychologist included Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), Montreal Cognitive Assessment test (MOCA), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and Prague tests. Salivary cytokines levels were determined by ELISA.
Results: RAVLT and MOCA delayed recall scores were lower in AGG_P group compared to NL_P and CR_P. The learning curve was also different with subjects with AGG_P showing reduced learning performance. Contrary to our hypothesis, salivary IL-1β associated with immediate but not delayed cognitive scores.
Conclusions: These results showed for the first time that subjects with AGG_P had cognitive dysfunction and IL-1β may play a role in this process.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; cognitive dysfunction; episodic memory; neuropsychological assessment; periodontal disease; salivary cytokines.
© 2021. The Author(s).