Inhibition and attenuation of pathogenicity of Porphyromonas gingivalis by leupeptin： A review

BACKGROUND： Porphyromonas gingivalis is a periodontal pathogen, which is considered to be a keystone pathogen for periodontitis. A diverse conglomerate of P. gingivalis virulence factors including lipopolysaccharide, fimbriae, capsular polysaccharide, haemagglutinin and cysteine proteases （Arg-gingipains and Lys-gingipain） are considered to be involved in the pathogenesis ofperiodontitis. Leupeptin is a cysteine protease inhibitor which is specific for Arg gingipains. The present review focuses on action of leupeptin on Arg gingipains. METHOD： A search was carried out systematically from the start till September, 2016. The search was made in Medline database via PubMed. The keywords enlisted were ＂leupeptin＂; ＂gingipains＂; ＂periodontitis＂ using Boolean operator ＂and.＂ RESULTS： The result was selection of 58 articles which linked leupeptin to periodontitis and gingipains; pathogenesis of periodontitis, pathogenicity of gingipains and role of leupeptin. CONCLUSION： It was concluded that leupeptin inhibits and attenuates a number of destructive activities of Arg gingipains including inhibition ofplatelet aggregation; inhibit degradation of LL-37, which is an antimicrobial peptide; blocking inhibition ofmonocyte chemoattractant protein; restoring level ofinterleukin-2; inhibiting degradation of collagen type I and IV to name a few.

Antibacterial effect of bestatin during periodontitis

Periodontitis is a polymicrobial disease inciting inflammatory destruction of the tooth-supporting tissues, i.e., periodontium. The initiation of this infectious disease is ascribed to the formation of subgingival biofilms. These biofilms cause stimulation of myriad of chronic inflammatory reactions by the affected tissue. The Gram-negative anaerobe Porphyromonas gingivalis is commonly found as part of the microbiota of subgingival biofilms, and is involved in the occurrence of the disease. P. gingivalis possesses numerous virulence factors supporting its survival, regulating its communication with other species in the biofilm, degrading host tissues. Fusobacterium nucleatum is pivotal for formation of biofilm and promotes growth and invasion properties ofP. gingivalis. Bestatin is an aminopeptide inhibitor, produced by actinomycetes. It possesses antibacterial properties against P. gingivalis and F. nucleatum. The following review focuses on action of bestatin on the mentioned bacteria.

Cationic antimicrobial peptide： LL-37 and its role in periodontitis

BACKGROUND： Periodomitis i.e. inflammation of the periodontium is a multifactorial disease. Antimicrobial peptides （AMPs） which demonstrate a broad-spectrum of activity against varied number of bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites, and cancerous cells have been linked to periodontitis. The AMPs even possess the caliber of immunomodulation, and are significantly responsive to innate immuno-stimulation and infections. LL-37 plays a salubrious role by preventing and in treatment of chronic forms of periodontitis. OBJECTIVE： In the present work we will review the role of antimicrobial peptide LL-37 in periodontitis. METHODS： A systematic search was carried out from the beginning till August, 2016 using the Pubmed search engine. The keywords included ＂LL-37,＂ ＂periodontitis,＂ ＂Papillon-Lefevre syndrome,＂ ＂Morbus Kostmann,＂ ＂Haim-Munk syndrome＂ along with use of Boolean operator ＂and.＂ RESULTS： The search resulted in identifying 67 articles which included articles linking LL-37 with periodontitis, articles on Papillon-Lefevre syndrome, Morbus Kostmann, Haim-Munk syndrome, LL-37 and periodontitis and articles on pathogenicity of periodontitis. CONCLUSION： The literature search concluded that LL-37 plays a pivotal role in preventing and treatment of severe form of periodontitis.