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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Med.

Sec. Rheumatology

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1654271

Anti-Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide antibody in rheumatoid arthritis patients with emphysema

Provisionally accepted
Shomi  OkaShomi Oka1Takashi  HiguchiTakashi Higuchi1Kota  ShimadaKota Shimada2Misuzu  FujimoriMisuzu Fujimori3Atsushi  HashimotoAtsushi Hashimoto2Akiko  KomiyaAkiko Komiya2Koichiro  SaishoKoichiro Saisho4Norie  YoshikawaNorie Yoshikawa4Michita  SuzukiMichita Suzuki5Toshihiro  MatsuiToshihiro Matsui2Naoshi  FukuiNaoshi Fukui2Kiyoshi  MigitaKiyoshi Migita6Shigeto  TohmaShigeto Tohma1Hiroshi  FurukawaHiroshi Furukawa1*
  • 1Tokyo National Hospital (NHO), Tokyo, Japan
  • 2Kokuritsu Byoin Kiko Sagamihara Byoin, Sagamihara, Japan
  • 3Kokuritsu Byoin Kiko Himeji Iryo Center, Himeji, Japan
  • 4Kokuritsu Byoin Kiko Miyakonojo Iryo Center, Miyakonojo, Japan
  • 5Kokuritsu Byoin Kiko Nagoya Iryo Center, Nagoya, Japan
  • 6Fukushima Kenritsu Ika Daigaku, Fukushima, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Objective: Lung diseases that are chronic (emphysema [EMP], airway disease, interstitial lung disease) can complicate rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as extra-articular manifestations. Anti-Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) antibody (Ab) has been analyzed for the diagnosis of periodontal disease and RA patients showed increased anti-P. gingivalis Ab levels. However, amounts of anti-P. gingivalis Ab in RA complicated with chronic lung disease (CLD) are unknown. We measured anti-P. gingivalis Ab in cases of RA with CLD. Methods: Anti-P. gingivalis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) Ab were measured in RA patient sera by enzyme immunoassay. Results: Anti-P. gingivalis LPS Ab levels in RA with EMP were significantly lower than in RA cases without CLD (P=0.0190, mean ± standard deviation [SD], 32.7 ± 64.2 [×103U/mL] vs. 403.5 ± 2552.7 [×103U/mL]). Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed the independence of this association. Anti-P. gingivalis LPS Ab amounts were increased in RA without CLD (P=0.0412) compared with healthy controls (77.6 ± 183.7 [×103U/mL]). Conclusion: Anti-P. gingivalis LPS Ab levels in RA with EMP were lower compared with RA without CLD. Citrullinated peptides were mainly generated in the lungs of RA with EMP and the oral cavity of RA without CLD, suggesting the heterogeneity of RA.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, anti-Porphyromonas gingivalis antibodies, Emphysema, chronic lung disease, citrullinated peptides

Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Oka, Higuchi, Shimada, Fujimori, Hashimoto, Komiya, Saisho, Yoshikawa, Suzuki, Matsui, Fukui, Migita, Tohma and Furukawa. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Hiroshi Furukawa, Tokyo National Hospital (NHO), Tokyo, Japan

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