Abstract
BackgroundWe reported that human T cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1) infection is positively associated with atherosclerosis. Recent evidence has revealed a close association of periodontitis with atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and disruption of the microcirculation. However, the association between HTLV-1 and advanced periodontitis has not been investigated to date. Since hematopoietic activity is closely linked to endothelial maintenance activity and is known to decline with age, we hypothesized that the state of hematopoietic activity influenced the association between HTLV-1 and advanced periodontitis in elderly participants.MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed including 822 elderly participants aged 60–99 years who participated in a dental health check-up. Advanced periodontitis was defined as a periodontal pocket ≥ 6.0 mm. Participants were classified as having low or high hematopoietic activity according to the median values of reticulocytes.ResultsHTLV-1 infection was positively related to advanced periodontitis among participants with lower hematopoietic activity (lower reticulocyte count), but not among participants with higher hematopoietic activity (higher reticulocyte count). The adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) considering potential confounding factors was 1.92 (1.05–3.49) for participants with a lower reticulocyte count and 0.69 (0.35–1.36) for participants with a higher reticulocyte count.ConclusionsAmong elderly participants, the association between HTLV-1 infection and advanced periodontitis is influenced by hematopoietic activity. Since hematopoietic activity is associated with endothelial maintenance, these findings provide an efficient tool for clarifying the underlying mechanism of the progression of periodontitis among elderly participants.
Highlights
We reported that human T cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1) infection is positively associated with atherosclerosis
No significant associations were observed for participants with lower hematopoietic activity, whereas participants with higher hematopoietic activity and HTLV-1 infection were significantly older than those without HTLV-1 infection
Association between advanced periodontitis and HTLV-1 As shown in Table 2, there was no significant association between HTLV-1 infection and advanced periodontitis among the total participants
Summary
We reported that human T cell leukemia virus 1 (HTLV-1) infection is positively associated with atherosclerosis. Recent evidence has revealed a close association of periodontitis with atherosclerosis, endothelial dysfunction, and disruption of the microcirculation. We previously identified a positive association of asymptomatic HTLV1 infection with atherosclerosis [7], which is the result of endothelial dysfunction [8]. Recent studies have revealed that periodontitis is closely associated with atherosclerosis [9], endothelial dysfunction [10, 11], and disruption of microcirculation [12, 13]. Periodontitis is one of the major causes of tooth loss, resulting in a significant decrease in the quality of life of elderly participants [14]; the association between HTLV-1 infection and advanced periodontitis among elderly participants remains unknown
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