Periodontitis Linked With Childhood Arthritis

Periodontitis and the oral pathogens involved in the inflammatory disease may be environmental factors contributing to the development of anticyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibody-positive disease in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), an association study found. Antibodies to Porphyromonas gingivalis were significantly higher in children with CCP-positive JIA than in those with seronegative JIA, with median levels of 9.04 μg/mL versus 5.69 μg/mL (P<0.001), according to Sampath Prahalad, MD, of Emory University in Atlanta, and colleagues. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Rheumatology/Arthritis/56274?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2016-02-22&eun=g721819d0r