Aging is linked to increased susceptibility to chronic inflammatory diseases several of which, including periodontitis, involve neutrophil-mediated tissue injury. Here, we found that aging-associated periodontitis was accompanied by diminished expression of Del-1 (EDIL3), an endogenous inhibitor of LFA-1 integrin-dependent neutrophil adhesion, and by a reciprocal increase in IL-17 expression. Consistently, IL-17 inhibited gingival endothelial cell expression of Del-1, thereby promoting LFA-1-dependent neutrophil recruitment. Young Del-1-deficient mice developed spontaneous periodontitis featuring excessive neutrophil infiltration and IL-17 expression; disease was prevented in Del-1–LFA-1 and Del-1–IL-17 receptor double-deficient mice. Locally administered Del-1 inhibited IL-17 production, neutrophil accumulation, and bone loss. Therefore, Del-1 suppresses LFA-1-dependent neutrophil recruitment and IL-17-triggered inflammatory pathology and may thus be a promising therapeutic for inflammatory diseases.

SUMMARY Certain low-abundance bacterial species, such as the periodontitis-associated oral bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis can subvert host immunity to remodel a normally symbiotic microbiota into a dysbiotic, disease-provoking state. However, such pathogens also exploit inflammation to thrive in dysbiotic conditions. How these bacteria evade immunity while maintaining inflammation is unclear. As previously reported, P. gingivalis remodels the oral microbiota into a dysbiotic state by exploiting complement. Now we show that in neutrophils P. gingivalis disarms a host-protective TLR2-MyD88 pathway via proteasomal degradation of MyD88, whereas it activates an alternate TLR2-Mal-PI3K pathway. This alternate TLR2-Mal-PI3K pathway blocks phagocytosis, provides ‘bystander’ protection to otherwise susceptible bacteria, and promotes dysbiotic inflammation in vivo. This mechanism to disengage bacterial clearance from inflammation required an intimate crosstalk between TLR2 and the complement receptor C5aR, and can contribute to the persistence of microbial communities that drive dysbiotic diseases.

Periodontitis is a prevalent oral inflammatory disease that leads to alveolar bone loss and may exert an adverse impact on systemic health. Experimental animal models are critical tools to investigate mechanisms of periodontal pathogenesis and test new therapeutic approaches. The ligature-induced periodontitis model has been used frequently in relatively large animals, including non-human primates, to assess the host response and its effects on the tooth-supporting tissues (gingiva and bone) under well-controlled conditions. Although mice constitute the most convenient and versatile model for mechanistic immunological research (plethora of genetically engineered strains and immunological reagents), the tiny size of the murine oral cavity has presented technical challenges for ligature placement. In this report, we present a straightforward method for ligating the second maxillary molar tooth, and, moreover, identified the most appropriate sites for evaluating inflammatory bone loss in a valid and reproducible manner. These optimizations are expected to facilitate the use of the mouse ligature-induced periodontitis model and consequently contribute to better understanding of the immunopathological mechanisms of periodontitis.

Leukocyte adhesion deficiency Type I (LAD-I), a disease syndrome associated with frequent microbial infections, is caused by mutations on the CD18 subunit of β2 integrins. LAD-I is invariably associated with severe periodontal bone loss, historically attributed to lack of neutrophil surveillance of the periodontal infection. Here, we challenge this dogma by showing that the cytokine IL-17 plays a major role in the oral pathology of LAD-I. Defective neutrophil recruitment in LAD-I patients, or in LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18)-deficient mice that exhibit the LAD-I periodontal phenotype, was associated with excessive production of predominantly T cell-derived IL-17 in the periodontal tissue. The pathological elevation of IL-17 in the LFA-1–deficient periodontal tissue derived also from innate lymphoid cells. Strikingly, local treatment with anti-IL-17 (or anti-IL-23) in LFA-1-deficient mice not only blocked inflammatory periodontal bone loss but also caused a reduction in the total bacterial burden, suggesting that the IL-17-driven pathogenesis of LAD-I periodontitis leads to dysbiosis. Our findings therefore support an IL-17-targeted therapy for this condition.