Obesity is a global problem affecting over 1 billion adults and 17.6 million children under 5 years of age. Since 1980, 3-fold increases in obesity have been reported worldwide. Obesity poses an increased risk of developing many secondary conditions, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, periodontal disease, certain cancers, and asthma. Given the disease burden associated with obesity, a better understanding of the local and systemic complications arising from this condition and effective modalities for its treatment seem critical and timely. Obesity is now viewed to result in a dysregulation of the innate immune system leading to an attenuated systemic inflammation. However, a precise understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this immune-metabolic linkage is lacking, but will be critically important for rational intervention. Intriguingly, and cogent to this proposal, recent epidemiological studies have linked obesity to periodontal disease. The possible causal relationship(s) between obesity and periodontitis, and the underlying biological mechanisms warrant a robust investigation. Provocatively, our preliminary data show that when wild-type mice are fed a high fat diet for 16 weeks - as a model for induced obesity they display a dramatic and reproducibly attenuated proinflammatory cytokine profile in a Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g)-dependent model of periodontal disease, in contrast to lean mice fed a standard chow diet. Furthermore, in this model, obese animals experience greater periodontal bone loss compared to lean ones. Finally, we have found that obesity impairs the mechanisms associated with host clearance of P.g. from the oral environment. Based on these data, and data presented in this proposal, we hypothesize that diet-induced obesity (DIO) alters the innate immune response to P.g, such that macrophages mount an attenuated anti-bacterial response, which leads to aggravated periodontal bone loss. A better understanding of the link between obesity and innate immune response will likely have profound implications for the design of new therapies and modalities aimed at reducing clinical sequelae associated with obesity. In this application, we propose the following Specific Aims:
Aim 1 will determine the effect of DIO on the severity of P.g-associated experimental periodontitis.
Aim 2 will establish the functional significance of chromatin modification and TLR signaling pathways uniquely affected by DIO in response to P.g infection.
Aim 3 will determine the effect of TLR2 deficiency on DIO in our murine periodontitis model. Our approach should provide novel and crucial data that will deepen our understanding of the pathway-specific mechanisms involved in the diet-induced regulation of host innate immune response to pathogens. The characterization of diet-specific pathways may eventually allow the design of new classes of compounds to treat obesity-related diseases. NARRATIVE: Our approach will test the hypothesis that diet-induced obesity alters the immune response to Porphyromonas gingivalis which leads to an aggravated alveolar bone loss in obese animals. The results of these studies should provide novel and crucial data that will deepen our understanding of the pathway-specific mechanisms involved in the diet- induced regulation of host innate immune response to pathogens. New knowledge gained from the proposed studies will likely have profound implications for the design of new therapies and modalities aimed at reducing clinical sequelae associated with obesity.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DE015989-07
Application #
7871401
Study Section
Oral, Dental and Craniofacial Sciences Study Section (ODCS)
Program Officer
Lumelsky, Nadya L
Project Start
2004-03-01
Project End
2013-07-31
Budget Start
2010-08-01
Budget End
2011-07-31
Support Year
7
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$382,078
Indirect Cost
Name
Boston University
Department
Dentistry
Type
Schools of Dentistry
DUNS #
604483045
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02118
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Zhou, Qingde; Leeman, Susan E; Amar, Salomon (2011) Signaling mechanisms in the restoration of impaired immune function due to diet-induced obesity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108:2867-72
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Yu, Wen-Han; Hu, Han; Zhou, Qingde et al. (2010) Bioinformatics analysis of macrophages exposed to Porphyromonas gingivalis: implications in acute vs. chronic infections. PLoS One 5:e15613
Zelkha, Sami A; Freilich, Robert W; Amar, Salomon (2010) Periodontal innate immune mechanisms relevant to atherosclerosis and obesity. Periodontol 2000 54:207-21
Mazumdar, Varun; Snitkin, Evan S; Amar, Salomon et al. (2009) Metabolic network model of a human oral pathogen. J Bacteriol 191:74-90
Zhou, Qingde; Leeman, Susan E; Amar, Salomon (2009) Signaling mechanisms involved in altered function of macrophages from diet-induced obese mice affect immune responses. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106:10740-5
Lowry, Matthew H; McAllister, Brian P; Jean, Jyh-Chang et al. (2008) Lung lining fluid glutathione attenuates IL-13-induced asthma. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 38:509-16

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