Diabetes mellitus and periodontitis share intracellular disorders as the main meeting point

Abstract

Diabetes and periodontitis are two of the most prevalent diseases worldwide that negatively impact the quality of life of the individual suffering from them. They are part of the chronic inflammatory disease group or, as recently mentioned, non‐communicable diseases, with inflammation being the meeting point among them. Inflammation hitherto includes vascular and tissue changes, but new technologies provide data at the intracellular level that could explain how the cells respond to the aggression more clearly. This review aims to emphasize the molecular pathophysiological mechanisms in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and periodontitis, which are marked by different impaired central regulators including mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired immune system and autophagy pathways, oxidative stress, and the crosstalk between adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) and the renin‐angiotensin system (RAS). All of them are the shared background behind both diseases that could explain its relationship. These should be taken in consideration if we would like to improve the treatment outcomes. Currently, the main treatment strategies in diabetes try to reduce glycemia index as the most important aspect, and in periodontitis try to reduce the presence of oral bacteria. We propose to add to the therapeutic guidelines the handling of all the intracellular disorders to try to obtain better treatment success.