The association between periodontal disease and joint destruction in rheumatoid arthritis extends the link between the HLA-DR shared epitope and severity of bone destruction

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Abstract
Objective: To evaluate a possible association between wrist and periodontal destruction in rheumatoid arthritis, and between periodontal destruction, dry mouth, and labial salivary gland biopsy and the contribution of genetic factors (the shared epitope (SE) and IL1B (+3954) or TNFA (−238 or −308) gene polymorphisms). Methods: 147 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled. Periodontal damage was defined according to the Hugoson and Jordan criteria on panoramic dental x rays. Typing for the SE and cytokine polymorphisms was undertaken by enzyme linked oligosorbent assay. Odds ratios (OR), relative risk (RR), and χ2 values were calculated to quantify associations. Results: An association was observed between wrist and periodontal bone destruction (χ2 = 11.82; pConclusions: A strong association was found between wrist and periodontal bone destruction. The destruction risk was further increased in patients with sicca syndrome. The SE appears to be a severity genetic marker for both wrist and periodontal bone destruction.