Periodontal diseases and carotid intima-media thickness in Bangladesh

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between periodontal diseases and subclinical atherosclerosis in a younger and lean South Asian population. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 917 subjects (mean age 46 years and mean body mass index 21.1 kg/m(2)) from the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study in Bangladesh. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess the associations between multiple clinical measures of periodontal diseases and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). Results: Mean attachment loss (AL) and percentage of sites with AL >= 4 mm (% AL >= 4) were associated with increased IMT. The IMT was 20.0-mu m (95% CI: 2.2, 37.8) and 26.5-mu m (95% CI: 8.9, 44.1) higher in subjects in the top quartile of mean AL (>3.72 mm) and % AL >= 4 (>58.4%), respectively, compared to those in the bottom quartile. In a subset of 366 subjects, mean AL was positively associated with plasma levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (p < 0.05) and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Attachment loss was associated with subclinical atherosclerosis in this young and lean Bangladeshi population. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm this association.