Autoantibodies to the beta(1)-Adrenoceptor from Patients with Periodontitis as a Risk Factor for Cardiac Dysfunction

Abstract

The presence of serum autoantibodies in periodontitis (P) patients against â(1)-adrenoceptor (â(1)-AR), using cardiac membranes or a synthetic â(1)-AR peptide corresponding to the second extracellular loop of human â(1)-AR as antigens, permit us to detect circulating antibody from 40 P patients but not in 20 normal individuals (control). Simultaneously, the P patients exhibited a decrease in HRV. Anti-â(1)-AR IgG titters correlated with the decrease in HRV of the same patients and the anti-â(1)-AR peptide IgG displayed partial agonist-like activity and modified the contractility of isolated atria, produced cyclic nucleotides, and inhibited the â(1)-AR agonistic activity of isoproterenol. We demonstrated in this study an association between periodontitis infection and an increased risk of cardiac disease, thereby highlighting the role of anti-â(1)-AR autoantibodies in alteration of myocardial contractility.