“Nearly half of the U.S. adult population suffers from periodontitis, a form of chronic gum disease. Bacteria are responsible, causing inflammation and eventually bone loss, and in the worst cases, even affecting overall health. A treatment for this prevalent disease could benefit millions of people. With a recent finding, researchers George Hajishengallis of Penn’s School of Dental Medicine and John […]

“In 1980, a then-National Institute of Dental Research grantee and colleagues reported in the New England Journal of Medicine about a five-year-old boy with an unusual history of chronic skin and ear infections. Their case study provided the scientific lead for what now is known in the medical literature as leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I (LAD-I), a rare primary immunodeficiency […]

“Organisms that promote dysbiosis (a compositional shift in the microbiota), such as the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis, are faced with a conun- drum: on the one hand, they need to evade immune-mediated killing but on the other hand, they require inflammation, as this produces the nutrients that they need to survive through tissue breakdown. In a new study, Hajishengallis and colleagues […]

“The human body is comprised of roughly 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. In healthy people, these bacteria are typically harmless and often helpful, keeping disease-causing microbes at bay. But, when disturbances knock these bacterial populations out of balance, illnesses can arise. Periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease, is one example. In a new study, University of Pennsylvania researchers […]

“The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania a five­ year, $10 million renewal of a program project to study the oldest part of the human immune system called the complement system, or simply “complement.” Complement is a network of more than 50 proteins in the blood and […]

“Nearly half of all adults in the United States suffer from the gum disease periodontitis, and 8.5 percent have a severe form that can raise the risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and pregnancy complications. University of Pennsylvania researchers have been searching for ways to prevent, halt and reverse periodontitis. In a report published in the Journal of Immunology, they describe a […]

“Patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency, or LAD, suffer from frequent bacterial infections, including the severe gum disease known as periodontitis. These patients often lose their teeth early in life. New research by University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine researchers, teaming with investigators from the National Institutes of Health, has demonstrated a method of reversing this bone loss and inflammation. The work was led […]

“As reported by the University of Pennsylvania, two professors at the university’s School of Dental Medicine have been given the 2012 Distinguished Scientist Award for their exceptional research achievements in periodontal disease and oral biology by the International Association for Dental Research. The second recipient from the dental faculty is George Hajishengallis, professor at the school’s Department of Microbiology. He […]

“Two University of Pennsylvania professors are serving as organizers of the Ninth International Conference on Innate Immunity, to be held June 23-28 in Ixia, Greece, on the island of Rhodes. John Lambris, Dr. Ralph and Sallie Weaver Professor of Research Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, and George Hajishengallis, a professor in the Department of Microbiology in Penn’s School of Dental Medicine, will bring together […]

“An international team of researchers has used the endothelial protein DEL1 to treat periodontitis in mice.1 Despite the therapeutic angle, the near-term utility of DEL1 is more likely to be as a diagnostic and risk marker for the disease. Periodontitis results from a chronic inflammatory response to bacterial plaque and tartar deposits on the teeth. The consequent neutrophil infiltration of […]