PREDICTION OF EPITOPE BASED VACCINE CANDIDATES FOR PERIODONTAL DISEASE

Abstract

Periodontal disease is a multifactorial dental complication that has an impact on the supporting tooth structures like the gingiva, cementum and alveolar bone. Various studies conclude PD is associated with several systemic diseases like cardiovascular, neuronal, autoimmune, and respiratory. It is seen that periodontal disease is also allied with PCOS, infertility, age, obesity, adverse pregnancy outcomes, erectile dysfunction, and diabetes. The individuals suffering from PD are more likely to have dental caries. The initiation is due to dysbiosis of commensal microbes present in the oral cavity releasing a large extent of proinflammatory cytokines including IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-1. The preliminary stage is reversible gingivitis and if proper treatment of gingivitis is not done then it can progress to periodontitis which can lead to alveolar bone loss and is irreversible. There are approximately 700 different bacterial species associated with periodontal disease. This disease immensely affects the daily activities of organisms. There are several risk factors allied with periodontal diseases such as poor oral hygiene, medical diseases, smoking, age, blood group, obesity, orthodontic treatments, heredity, and stress. Several periodontal therapies have been shown to improve the status of PD in individuals. A functionally active vaccine is required for this disease. The proposed study aims to identify vaccine candidates from multiple different species of pathogens involved with periodontal disease. 20 peptides were screened for epitope prediction based on various physicochemical criteria like antigenicity, dependency of the pathogen on the virulence factor. Comprehensive analysis of these antigens revealed that they have several potential B and T-Cell epitopes. 3 epitopes NYFKSQVIFQRLPEI, ASRRLYRGYEALFVP, ELEKAIEMEDLALNP exhibited more than 90% population coverage in the both Indian and Global context. Therefore, this analysis suggests that the predicted epitopes might be suitable vaccine candidates and can be used for further in vivo and in-vitro studies.