Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of death worldwide. Research findings indicate that periodontal infection is an independent risk factor for CVD. Periodontal pathogens can cause cardiovascular diseases through various pathways, including direct invasion, induction of platelet activation and agglutination, immune inflammatory response, bacteremia, and oxidative stress. Moreover, CVD symptoms are relieved after the patients undergo periodontal interventional treatment. There have been substantial findings indicating that there may be a close connection between periodontal disease and CVD. However, periodontal disease is a chronic disease. The treatment of periodontal diseases and the improvement of periodontal health require long-term efforts. Long-term effective reduction of the incidence of CVD in clinical practice through prevention of periodontal disease remains a challenging area of study. Here we summarized and reported the latest findings on the mechanism of action of periodontal pathogens in cardiovascular diseases, intending to contribute to the better understanding of the pathogenesis of CVD and to provide potential targets and new ideas for its prevention and treatment.
心血管疾病（cardiovascular disease, CVD）是全球范围内主要的致死原因，有研究指出牙周感染是CVD的独立危险因素，牙周病原体可通过直接侵袭、诱导血小板活化凝集、免疫炎症反应、菌血症、氧化应激等多种途径引发CVD。患者进行牙周干预治疗后CVD症状也得到了缓解。大量证据表明牙周病和CVD可能存在密切的关系，但牙周病是一种慢性疾病，牙周病的治疗及牙周健康的改善是一项长期工作，在临床上如何长期有效地通过预防牙周病来降低CVD的发生率是一项具有挑战的研究。本文对牙周致病菌在CVD中的作用机制方面的研究进展作一综述，有助于更好地了解CVD的发病机制，为CVD的临床防治提供潜在的靶点和新的思路。
Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Mechanisms; Oral microbes; Periodontal disease.
Copyright© by Editorial Board of Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences).