Periodontitis and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: Mechanistic Evidence

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a multifactorial disorder characterized by chronic intestinal inflammation. Focusing on a single aspect of its pathogenesis is insufficient to capture the complexity of the disease. In this context, systemic inter-organ communication, particularly the periodontitis-IBD axis mediated by host immune cells and commensal microbiota, has recently emerged as an area of increasing importance in IBD research. This review aims to provide an integrative overview of gut seeding of potentially harmful oral bacteria (oral pathobionts) in IBD and its mechanistic insights along with the oral-gut relationship in the context of IBD pathology. We also discuss potential factors that facilitate the gut seeding of oral pathobionts, a pivotal event underlying the oral-gut axis. Elucidating these complex immune-microbial dynamics across distant mucosal sites will deepen our understanding of the shared pathophysiology of oral and intestinal disorders and inform the development of novel therapeutic interventions.