Role of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in periodontal diseases

Introduction to Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans This bacterium was first isolated by Klinger 81 from a cervicofacial actinomycotic lesion in 1912 and was named Bacterium actinomycetemcomitans. Topley and Wilson (1929) 82 reclassified it as Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Potts et al. (1985) 83 as Haemophilus actinomycetemcomitans. In 2006 it was again reclassified based on multilocus sequence analysis by…

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Host-microbial interactions in periodontal diseases

Introduction to the host-microbial interactions in periodontal diseases The microbial biofilm that forms around the teeth is the main cause of periodontal disease initiation and progression. This biofilm is a complex community of microorganisms which produces various virulence factors that initiate the inflammatory response. The enzymes released by bacteria in the biofilm include proteases that…

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Applications of probiotic therapy in periodontics

Introduction to probiotic therapy The oral cavity is a natural habitat for more than 700 bacterial species. Most of these bacterial species are commensals, that is, they are associated with health. Remaining bacterial species are pathogenic and are responsible for causing various oral health problems including periodontal diseases. These bacterial species are not randomly distributed…

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Dental calculus and its role in etiopathogenesis of periodontal diseases

Introduction to dental calculus Although, dental plaque is considered as the primary etiological factor in the development of periodontal diseases; the presence of dental calculus is also of great concern to the clinicians because it facilitates plaque formation by providing the surface for its formation and keeps it in close contact with the gingival tissue.…

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The complement system

Introduction to the complement system Term ‘complement’ means to augment the effect of other components of the immune system. The complement system is a group of more than 23 proteins that interact with each other to opsonize the pathogen and induce a series of inflammatory responses that help to generate an immune response against that…

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Cellular basis of immune response

Introduction to cellular immune response During embryonic development, the blood cell precursors originate mainly in the yolk sac and fetal liver. These cells differentiate into myeloid and lymphoid series. Lymphoid series leads to the development of B-lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes, and NK cells, and myeloid series leads to the formation of monocytes and macrophages, erythrocytes,  neutrophils, basophils,…

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