Rheumatoid arthritis and periodontitis are chronic inflammatory diseases defined respectively by the destruction of the articular cartilage and tooth-supporting periodontal tissues. Although the epidemiologic evidence for an association between these two diseases is still scarce, there is emerging scientific information linking specific bacterial periodontal pathogens, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, in the citrullination process, leading to autoantibody formation and compromised immunotolerance of the susceptible patient to rheumatoid arthritis. In this review, we update the existing information on the evidence, not only regarding the epidemiologic association, but also the biologic mechanisms linking these two diseases. Finally, we review information emerging from intervention studies evaluating whether periodontal treatment could influence the initiation and progression of rheumatoid arthritis.

中文翻译：

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牙周炎和类风湿性关节炎：我们从它们的联系和治疗中学到了什么？

类风湿性关节炎和牙周炎是慢性炎症性疾病，分别定义为关节软骨和牙齿支持牙周组织的破坏。尽管这两种疾病之间存在关联的流行病学证据仍然很少，但有新兴的科学信息将特定的细菌牙周病原体联系起来，例如牙龈卟啉单胞菌和放线聚合杆菌，在瓜氨酸化过程中，导致自身抗体形成和易感患者对类风湿性关节炎的免疫耐受性受损。在这篇综述中，我们更新了现有的证据信息，不仅涉及流行病学关联，还涉及连接这两种疾病的生物学机制。最后，我们回顾了评估牙周治疗是否会影响类风湿性关节炎的发生和进展的干预研究中出现的信息。