Investigators at Johns Hopkins report they have new evidence that a bacterium known to cause chronic inflammatory gum infections also triggers the inflammatory "autoimmune" response characteristic of chronic, joint-destroying rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The new findings have important implications for prevention and treatment of RA, say the researchers.
In a report on the work, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the investigators say the common denominator they identified in periodontal disease (gum disease) and in many people with RA is Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans. An infection with A.
