Tetracycline for the Gums?

Tetracycline kills bacteria involved in a host of ailments, including periodontal disease. Now it’s being further trained on gum disease--but not as an antibiotic.

Tetracycline blocks the action of collagenase, an enzyme implicated in the tissue destruction of periodontal disease, say researchers at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Collagenase breaks down collagen, the connective tissue that forms the framework for skin, bone and gum.

In the Journal of Dental Research, oral biologist Lorne Golub and his team explain that it’s not necessarily the drug’s antibiotic action at work in this instance. Tetracycline, they say, inhibits collagenase by binding to specific metal ions the enzyme requires for its own function.

Golub’s team modified the tetracycline molecule to remove its antibiotic properties. They then fed the altered drug to diabetic rats that have high levels of tissue-destroying collagenase. Enzyme levels plummeted, preventing diabetes-induced loss of skin and gum tissue. Later the researchers duplicated the lab results with human tissue samples.

If the work pans out, periodic oral or topical doses of modified tetracycline could help stabilize periodontal disease, and possibly prevent tooth and gum loss.