Association between periodontitis and blood-ocular barrier disruption.

Periodontitis causes low-grade systemic inflammation e.g., through circulatory periodontal endotoxins, and it has been associated with cardiovascular morbidity and wet age-related macular degeneration. To assess the association between clinical severity of periodontitis and aqueous flare levels in the eyes. Patients with periodontitis (N = 15) who underwent periodontal treatment by a specialized dentist between the years 2020 and 2021 at the Chin and Mouth Disease Unit, Kymenlaakso Central Hospital, Kotka, Finland were enrolled. Aqueous flare levels, a surrogate marker for blood-aqueous and blood-retinal-barrier disruption, were measured using Laser Flare Meter (FM-600, Kowa Company, Ltd., Nagoya, Japan) before and right after the periodontal treatment and at 3 months. The number of teeth, periodontal probing depth (PPD), periodontal pathogens and antimicrobial treatment were recorded. At baseline, aqueous flare levels correlated with the number of clinically-relevant PPD (>5 mm) pockets (R = 0.789, Poor periodontal status was associated with blood-ocular-barrier breakdown. These findings could expand our understanding of the potential mechanisms and therapeutic targets against retinal vascular diseases and systemic comorbidities in patients with periodontitis.