Immune-Regulating Drug Improves Gum Disease in Mice

The immune-suppressing drug used to prevent organ rejection in transplant patients, rapamycin, has been reported to reduce bone loss, inflammation and changes to oral bacteria in older mice with periodontal disease, according to a recent study. 

 Investigators of the study published in elife used the 3D-imaging technique micro-computed tomography to measure the periodontal bone of the rapamycin-treated and untreated mice after the drug was added to the food of middle-aged mice for 8 weeks. When compared to the untreated mice, the mice that consumed the drug for 8 weeks had grown new bone during this time. The paper, “Rapamycin Rejuvenates Oral Health in Aging Mice,” is available in elife.