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Periodontal disease is an immune mediated inflammatory disease. There is a bidirectional series of host microbial interactions with the main causes being gram negative bacteria in the subgingival biofilm and an inappropriate host response. The imbalance between the Reactive Oxygen Species and its Inhibitors lead to periodontal destruction.
An anti-oxidant is any substance that when present at low concentrations compared to those of an oxidisable substrate significantly delays or prevents oxidation of that substrate.
Anti-oxidant defense systems in vivo are mainly of three kinds:
1. Preventive antioxidants – Function largely by sequestrating transition metal ions and preventing Fenton reactions.
2. Radical scavengers – Prevent oxidative stress by literally scavenging radicals as they form.
3. Repair and de novo enzymes – Systems that function by catalyzing the oxidation of other molecules.
Although oxidation reactions are crucial for life, they can also be damaging; hence, plants and animals maintain complex systems of multiple types of antioxidants, such as glutathione, vitamin C, and vitamin E as well as enzymes such as catalase, superoxide dismutase and various peroxidases. Low levels of antioxidants, or inhibition of the antioxidant enzymes, cause oxidative stress and may damage or kill cells.
This book aims to bring together more than 40 years of periodontal research on reactive oxygen and antioxidant species and more recent work on redox biology, and to set this against the huge body of evidence within the biomedical literature, to highlight common mechanistic pathways and exciting new opportunities for the future development of host modulation therapies in periodontology