Researchers have begun to understand how and which bacteria from the 700 species living in the mouth are responsible for the increasing numbers of preterm (premature) and stillbirths.
Oral bacteria can target pregnancy in healthy women, says a new study.
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) have begun to understand how and which bacteria from the 700 species living in the mouth are responsible for the increasing numbers of preterm (premature) and stillbirths.
Yiping Han, periodontist at the CWRU School of Dental Medicine, led the study that found several new bacteria originating in the mouth travel through the blood to cause an inflammatory reaction in the placenta and eventually cause a range of health issues from miscarriages to stillbirths.
Researchers have been baffled why oral bacteria have shown up in the placenta or amniotic fluid of pregnant women.
They found that after injecting blood, in the tails of pregnant mice, with saliva from healthy people and dental plaque from those with periodontal disease, oral bacteria continued to grow in the placenta after it had left the mice blood 24 hours later.
Prior to Han's work in connecting oral bacteria to the problems in pregnancy, it was thought that infections were transmitted through the vaginal tract.
Information from Han's previous studies over the past decade shows that oral bacteria can be transported through the blood when there is a cut in the mouth's lining or an oral health problem such as gingivitis or periodontitis which breaks down the defences in the mouth's lining that block or prevent bacteria from entering the bloodstream.
According to Han, this suggests that even healthy pregnant women should be concerned as bacteria that normally lives in the mouth can enter the bloodstream and make their way into the placenta's immune-free environment to ignite an inflammatory reaction that can lead to premature or stillbirths.
“We found many bacteria did locate to the placenta, but they were not the most famous periodontal pathogens,” said Han. “In fact, many of the bacteria were the kind that are found in healthy people's mouths.”
Researchers are finding that many of the bacteria found in the placenta cannot be grown in the lab, which has been the traditional way to identify the strains.
They are identified through DNA cloning techniques that match the bacteria in the placenta with the bacteria found in the mouth. This DNA fingerprinting allows researchers to trace the origin of the bacteria.
Han notes that as long as these bacteria stay in the mouth, they cause very little problems. However in the uterus, they stimulate the inflammatory response that leads to ruptures and uterine contractions, says a CWRU release.
“The normal healthy woman is under risk,” Han said. “People should be concerned about it. This is what the experiment is showing.”
The findings were featured in Infection and Immunity.
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