Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Dentistry, the scientists from the University of California as well as the University of Michigan have recently identified a target to focus treatments on for periodontitis, a dental health problem that affects the periodontium, and osteoporosis, an abnormal loss of bone tissues attributed to lack of calcium in the body.
Cun-Yu Wang, the principal investigator of the study and a member of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, and his colleagues suggested that the inhibiting NF-kB or nuclear factor-kB, a protein which controls the genes linked with immunity and inflammation, can help prevent the loss of bone by keeping healthy bone formation.
NF-kB is responsible for various immune and inflammatory disorders. It also plays an important role in the development of periodontitis and osteoporosis. Moreover, this protein disrupts the equilibrium of bone formation and destruction. Wang, along with other scientists, seeks to restore or improve this balance through net bone growth.
“Most studies focus on the part that NF-kB plays in the regulation of osteoclasts — bone-resorbing cells. For the past five years, we looked closely at the effect of NF-kB on osteoblasts — bone-forming cells,” Wang said. “We knew that NF-kB promoted resorption. What we discovered in our in vitro and in vivo studies is that this protein also inhibits new bone formation, giving us a fuller picture of its role in inflammation and immune responses.”
Currently, there are several treatments to prevent bone loss; however, they cannot increase the bone mass. The results from the study conducted by Wang support the plan to create a new medicine that can prevent NF-kB activity.
Wang and his team are preparing to conduct a test on molecules that allow certain bone-inhibition and bone-resorption actions of nuclear factor-kB in periodontitis and osteoporosis.
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