Relationship of Periodontitis and Cardiovascular Risk in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Although inflammation has been shown to contribute substantially to the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in patients with RA, there is also a high prevalence of traditional CVD-risk factors among these patients.

The elevated risk has been shown to be attributable to combination of both traditional risk factors hypertension, smoking, dyslipidemia and obesity and RA-specific factors rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity, rheumatoid factor (RF) positivity and Disease Activity Score including 28 joints (DAS28).

Periodontitis, a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by loss of the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone, is a major cause of tooth loss.

Periodontal diseases are highly prevalent and can affect up to 90% of the world population with varying degree of disease severity. The prevalence of periodontitis is higher in RA population compared to the healthy individuals.

Studies have reported increased periodontal tissue breakdown in RA patients, certain clinical and pathological similarities exist between both diseases. Pathogenic processes in RA, which is characterized by synovial inflammation and progressive destruction of cartilage and bone, are similar to those in periodontitis.

Periodontitis also has been linked to other diseases known to be associated (higher) with RA as diabetes, CVD, metabolic syndrome, some types of cancer.

Periodontitis is one of the major modifiable risk factor of CVD. Both periodontitis and CVD share common risk factors as smoking, diabetes mellitus, age, socioeconomic status, stress and obesity, which could result in confounding any association between them.

Studies revealed that periodontal treatment improves endothelial function and there was a longitudinal study evaluating the impact of periodontal treatment on c-IMT in people with mild/moderate periodontitis. 6 and 12 months following periodontal treatment, a statistically significant reduction in c-IMT compared to baseline measurements was reported. These associations emphasize the importance of oral health as a common under-recognized factor increasing CV risk.