A research team from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) reports that in African Americans, a common and clinically detectable change in a single-unit (nucleotide) of DNA may be associated with aggressive periodontitis (AP). The change, called 348T, occurs in the gene that encodes the neutrophil formylpeptide receptor 1 (FPR1). The membrane-bound FPR1 protein plays a role in allowing white blood cells called neutrophils to recognize invading bacteria and mount the needed infection-fighting response. The scientists obtained DNA samples from 63 African Americans: 30 diagnosed with AP and 33 healthy volunteers of a relatively homogenous West African genetic ancestry to help unify the analysis. The scientists detected 5 previously identified single-nucleotide changes (SNPs) in the FPR1 gene, among them was the 348T variant, which substitutes a thymine for the usual cytosine. They found that 7 African Americans with AP had the 348T variant in both copies of the FPRI gene, while the SNP was absent in the healthy volunteers. With further research, the variant might be predictive of African Americans who are most at risk for AP. They noted that the biological reasons for the higher frequency of the 348T gene change in those with AP remained unclear. They speculated that the change may alter the structure of the messenger RNA produced from the FPR1 gene and its subsequent translation into protein.
(Source: NIDCR, Science News in Brief, April 9, 2009)
