Breakthrough therapy designed for periodontitis sufferers

Periodontitis is a painful and destructive dental disease caused by bacteria that induce inflammation, leading to the loss of gums surrounding teeth. As one of the most common dental diseases affecting a large number of the population, researchers have designed a new stem cell-based therapy to treat it.

Until now, periodontitis is treated with infection-fighting methods and with patients’ Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) to regenerate the tissue around teeth. However, the success of autologous cells depends on the patient’s age and the tissue quality.

This new therapy, proposed by Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry in Japan, claims to use a safe, effective and cheaper regenerative method. It involves injecting allogeneic MSCs from a healthy donor into the affected one’s defected dental tissue. The cells used for the therapy are called Adipose Derived Mesenchymal Progenitor Stem Cells (ADMPC) and are isolated from the adipose tissue of healthy patients.

The use of cell-based therapies is a promising approach to treat human disease. This kind of treatment paradigm is important because commercially available stem cells that represent a cell-based therapy specifically developed to treat periodontal tissue regeneration will reduce time and cost while improving quality assurance,

- Masahiro Saito, PhD, Division of Operative Dentistry at Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry

Our study demonstrates that ADMPCs appear to be safe and not triggering an immune response in allogeneic settings, and as such it explores the potential use of allogeneic MSCs for tissue regeneration. The study is a powerful first step towards further development of stem cell-based therapy for the treatment of periodontal disease

- Professor Saito, Division of Operative Dentistry, Tohoku University Graduate School of Dentistry

This study has been completed in minipig models, but the next step for the researchers is to perform a human clinical trial on periodontitis patients. It’s hoped that the trial will deliver a new therapy for periodontal tissue regeneration.

Allogenic treatment options can be available for patients whose age doesn’t allow for stem cell expansion. However, it’s highly recommended to storage dental pulp stem cells from a milk tooth when young. Young dental pulp stem cells have a greater expansion potential in future therapies.

Reference:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/