Evaluation of Anti-inflammatory and Antioxidant Effects of Punicalagin (Pomegranate Extract) on IL-1 Beta and Superoxide Dismutase Levels in Patients with Chronic Periodontitis – A Randomized Controlled Trial

Purpose: Pomegranates have been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Punicalagin (Pomegranate extract) on IL-1β and SOD levels in chronic periodontitis patients. Materials and Methods: 30 patients were included in the study. The sites were randomly divided into control site and test site. Control sites were treated with Scaling and Root Planing (SRP) alone and test sites were treated with punicalagin gel along with SRP. Clinical parameters such as probing pocket depth, Clinical Attachment Level (CAL), Gingival Index (GI), Plaque index (PI), Sulcus Bleeding Index (SBI) and biochemical markers such as IL-1β and Superoxide Dismutase levels were compared between baseline and at 21 days post therapy. Results: Test sites showed significant differences when compared to control sites in relation to all clinical and biochemical parameters. Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, there is an improvement in the clinical parameters with an increase in the anti-oxidant marker level and a decrease in inflammatory marker level when punicalagin gel was placed along with Scaling and Root Planing in patients with Chronic Periodontitis.

Identification of pleiotropy at the gene level between psychiatric disorders and related traits

Major mental disorders are highly prevalent and make a substantial contribution to the global disease burden. It is known that mental disorders share clinical characteristics, and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have recently provided evidence for shared genetic factors as well. Genetic overlaps are usually identified at the single-marker level. Here, we aimed to identify genetic overlaps at the gene level between 7 mental disorders (schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, major depressive disorder, anorexia nervosa, ADHD, bipolar disorder and anxiety), 8 brain morphometric traits, 2 cognitive traits (educational attainment and general cognitive function) and 9 personality traits (subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, agreeableness and conscientiousness, children’s aggressive behaviour, loneliness) based on publicly available GWASs. We performed systematic conditional regression analyses to identify independent signals and select loci associated with more than one trait. We identified 48 genes containing independent markers associated with several traits (pleiotropy at the gene level). We also report 9 genes with different markers that show independent associations with single traits (allelic heterogeneity). This study demonstrates that mental disorders and related traits do show pleiotropy at the gene level as well as the single-marker level. The identification of these genes might be important for prioritizing further deep genotyping, functional studies, or drug targeting.

Genetic Susceptibility to Periodontal Disease in Down Syndrome: A Case-Control Study

Severe periodontitis is prevalent in Down syndrome (DS). This study aimed to identify genetic variations associated with periodontitis in individuals with DS. The study group was distributed into DS patients with periodontitis (n = 50) and DS patients with healthy periodontium (n = 36). All samples were genotyped with the “Axiom Spanish Biobank” array, which contains 757,836 markers. An association analysis at the individual marker level using logistic regression, as well as at the gene level applying the sequence kernel association test (SKAT) was performed. The most significant genes were included in a pathway analysis using the free DAVID software. C12orf74 (rs4315121, p = 9.85 × 10−05, OR = 8.84), LOC101930064 (rs4814890, p = 9.61 × 10−05, OR = 0.13), KBTBD12 (rs1549874, p = 8.27 × 10−05, OR = 0.08), PIWIL1 (rs11060842, p = 7.82 × 10−05, OR = 9.05) and C16orf82 (rs62030877, p = 8.92 × 10−05, OR = 0.14) showed a higher probability in the individual analysis. The analysis at the gene level highlighted PIWIL, MIR9-2, LHCGR, TPR and BCR. At the signaling pathway level, PI3K-Akt, long-term depression and FoxO achieved nominal significance (p = 1.3 × 10−02, p = 5.1 × 10−03, p = 1.2 × 10−02, respectively). In summary, various metabolic pathways are involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis in DS, including PI3K-Akt, which regulates cell proliferation and inflammatory response.