BackgroundThe present study aimed to investigate changes in intranetwork functional connectivity (FC) and internetwork FC in middle‐aged and elderly individuals with normal cognition (NC) and varying degrees of periodontitis to determine the effects of periodontitis on brain function.MethodsPeriodontal findings and resting‐state functional magnetic resonance imaging data were acquired from 51 subjects with NC. Independent component analysis and correlation analysis were used for the statistical analysis of the data.ResultsDifferences in intranetwork FC were observed among groups in the anterior default‐mode network (aDMN), dorsal attention network and dorsal sensorimotor network (dSMN). Compared with the nonperiodontitis (NP) group or the mild‐periodontitis group, the analysis of internetwork FC showed increased FC between the auditory network and the ventral attention network (VAN), between the aDMN and the salience network (SN), and between the SN and the VAN and decreased FC between the posterior default‐mode network and the right frontoparietal network in the moderate‐to‐severe periodontitis group. Additionally, internetwork FC between the dSMN and the VAN was also increased in the moderate‐to‐severe periodontitis group compared to the NP group. The altered intra‐ and internetwork FC were significantly correlated with the periodontal clinical index.ConclusionOur results confirmed that periodontitis was associated with both intra‐ and internetwork FC changes even in NC. The present study indicates that periodontitis might be a potential risk factor for brain damage and provides a theoretical clue and a new treatment target for the early prevention of Alzheimer disease.Plain Language SummaryRecent research has proposed that periodontitis is a potential risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the relationship between periodontitis and the brain function of middle‐aged and elderly individuals with normal cognition (NC) remains unclear. Analyzing the effect of periodontitis on brain function in the NC stage can provide clues to AD development and help achieve early prevention of dementia. The present study aimed to investigate changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) in NC with different severity of periodontitis to determine the effects of periodontitis on brain function. Both changed intranetwork FC and internetwork FC were found in the moderate‐to‐severe periodontitis group, and periodontitis was associated with brain network function impairment in NC. The present study indicates that periodontitis might be a potential risk factor for brain damage even in NC stage, and provides a theoretical clue and a new treatment target for the early prevention of AD.

中文翻译：

---

认知正常的中老年人脑功能障碍相关牙周炎


背景本研究旨在调查认知正常 （NC） 和不同程度牙周炎的中老年人网络内功能连接 （FC） 和网络间 FC 的变化，以确定牙周炎对脑功能的影响。方法从 51 例 NC 受试者中获取牙周检查结果和静息态功能磁共振成像数据。采用独立成分分析和相关性分析对数据进行统计分析。结果在前默认模式网络 （aDMN） 、背侧注意力网络和背侧感觉运动网络 （dSMN） 中观察到组内 FC 的差异。与非牙周炎 （NP） 组或轻度牙周炎组相比，网际 FC 分析显示，中度至重度牙周炎组听觉网络与腹侧注意力网络 （VAN） 之间、aDMN 与显著网络 （SN） 之间以及 SN 与 VAN 之间的 FC 增加，后默认模式网络与右额顶网络之间的 FC 降低。此外，与 NP 组相比，中度至重度牙周炎组 dSMN 和 VAN 之间的网际 FC 也有所增加。改变的网内和网间 FC 与牙周临床指标显著相关。结论我们的结果证实，即使在 NC 中，牙周炎也与网内和网间 FC 变化相关。本研究提示牙周炎可能是脑损伤的潜在危险因素，为阿尔茨海默病的早期预防提供了理论线索和新的治疗靶点。简明语言摘要最近的研究表明，牙周炎是阿尔茨海默病 （AD） 的潜在危险因素。然而，牙周炎与认知正常 （NC） 的中老年人脑功能之间的关系仍不清楚。分析牙周炎对 NC 阶段大脑功能的影响可以为 AD 的发展提供线索，并有助于实现痴呆的早期预防。本研究旨在调查不同牙周炎严重程度的 NC 脑功能连接 （FC） 的变化，以确定牙周炎对脑功能的影响。在中度至重度牙周炎组中发现网络内 FC 和网络间 FC 均发生变化，牙周炎与 NC 脑网络功能损害相关。本研究提示牙周炎在 NC 期也可能是脑损伤的潜在危险因素，为早期预防 AD 提供了理论线索和新的治疗靶点。