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Review
. 2014 Nov-Dec;18(6):686-92.
doi: 10.4103/0972-124X.147398.

Toll gates: An emerging therapeutic target

Rajendran Maheaswari  1 , Kiruthika Sivasankar  2 , Sathya Subbarayan  1
Affiliations
Review

Toll gates: An emerging therapeutic target

Rajendran Maheaswari et al. J Indian Soc Periodontol. 2014 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Innate immune system forms the first line of defense against microbial infections, as it exerts an immediate response. Innate immunity works through Toll-like receptors (TLRs) which functions as primary sensors of pathogens. TLR activates multiple signaling cascades leading to the induction of genes responsible for the release of inflammatory cytokines and type I interferon. Thus, they induce antimicrobial responses and also have an instructive role in adaptive immunity. However, TLR-mediated inflammation is said to be responsible for many of the destructive host responses in inflammatory diseases like periodontitis. Hence, therapeutics targeting TLRs are being used to treat disease such as HIV, Hepatitis B, asthma etc. Recently, synthetic TLR agonists are tried as novel vaccine adjuvant in treating periodontal diseases. This paper reviews the scope of TLR-based therapeutics in treating periodontitis.

Keywords: Periodontitis; toll like receptor agonists; toll like receptors.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart describing TLR signaling pathways
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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