Relationship between IgA Nephropathy and <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i>; Red Complex of Periodontopathic Bacterial Species

Abstract

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) has been considered to have a relationship with infection in the tonsil, because IgAN patients often manifest macro hematuria just after tonsillitis. In terms of oral-area infection, the red complex of periodontal bacteria (Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), Treponema denticol (T. denticola) and Tannerella forsythia (T. forsythia)) is important, but the relationship between these bacteria and IgAN remains unknown. In this study, the prevalence of the red complex of periodontal bacteria in tonsil was compared between IgAN and tonsillitis patients. The pathogenicity of IgAN induced by P. gingivalis was confirmed by the mice model treated with this bacterium. The prevalence of P. gingivalis and T. forsythia in IgAN patients was significantly higher than that in tonsillitis patients (p p P. gingivalis in mice caused mesangial proliferation (p p p P. gingivalis. These findings suggest that P. gingivalis is involved in the pathogenesis of IgAN.

Keywords

• IgA nephropathy
• periodontal bacteria
• infection
• mouse
• tonsil
• oral bacteria