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Review
. 2022 Feb 3:12:815318.
doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.815318. eCollection 2022.

More Than Just a Periodontal Pathogen -the Research Progress on Fusobacterium nucleatum

Yuanxin Chen  1 , Zhijie Huang  1 , Zhengming Tang  1 , Yisheng Huang  1 , Mingshu Huang  1 , Hongyu Liu  1 , Dirk Ziebolz  2 , Gerhard Schmalz  2 , Bo Jia  1 , Jianjiang Zhao  3
Affiliations
Review

More Than Just a Periodontal Pathogen -the Research Progress on Fusobacterium nucleatum

Yuanxin Chen et al. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. .

Abstract

Fusobacterium nucleatum is a common oral opportunistic bacterium that can cause different infections. In recent years, studies have shown that F. nucleatum is enriched in lesions in periodontal diseases, halitosis, dental pulp infection, oral cancer, and systemic diseases. Hence, it can promote the development and/or progression of these conditions. The current study aimed to assess research progress in the epidemiological evidence, possible pathogenic mechanisms, and treatment methods of F. nucleatum in oral and systemic diseases. Novel viewpoints obtained in recent studies can provide knowledge about the role of F. nucleatum in hosts and a basis for identifying new methods for the diagnosis and treatment of F. nucleatum-related diseases.

Keywords: Fusobacterium nucleatum; dental pulp infection; halitosis; oral cancer; periodontal disease; systemic diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Oral Diseases Associated With F. nucleatum.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Possible Mechanisms of Periodontal Disease Promotion by F. nucleatum. (A) The role of F. nucleatum in the formation of dental plaque: F. nucleatum can coaggregate with early colonizers (including Streptococcus) and late colonizers (including P. gingivalis) of dental plaques via its adhesins; (B) The role of F. nucleatum in periodontal tissues: F. nucleatum can promote the development of periodontal disease by affecting epithelial cells, fibroblasts, and locally infiltrated neutrophils and macrophages in periodontal tissues. FomA, Fap2, CmpA, RadD, Aid1, and FadA are the major adhesins in F. nucleatum.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Possible Mechanisms of Cancer Promotion by F. nucleatum.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Extraoral Diseases Associated With F. nucleatum. References are (Truant et al., 1983; Ford et al., 2005; De Socio et al., 2009; Swidsinski et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2012; Mitsuhashi et al., 2015; Yamamura et al., 2016; Rodríguez Duque et al., 2018; Vander Haar et al., 2018; Hashemi Goradel et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2019; Abushamma et al., 2020; Barrera-López et al., 2020; Boehm et al., 2020; Cao et al., 2020; Huang et al., 2020; Kenig et al., 2020; Parhi et al., 2020; Swaminathan and Aguilar, 2020; Hoffmeister et al., 2021).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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