Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Epithelial Monoamine Oxidase Mediates Alveolar Bone Loss in a Rat Chronic Wound Model

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is an antimicrobial response to pathogenic challenge that may, in the case of persistent infection, have deleterious effects on the tissue of origin. A rat periodontal disease model was used to study ROS-induced chronic epithelial inflammation and bone loss. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was applied for 8 weeks into the gingival sulcus, and histological analysis confirmed the onset of chronic disease. Junctional epithelium was collected from healthy and diseased animals using laser-capture microdissection, and expression microarray analysis was performed. Of 19,730 genes changed in disease, 42 were up-regulated ≥4-fold. Three of the top 10 LPS-induced genes, monoamine oxidase B (MAO/B) and flavin-containing monooxygenase 1 and 2, are implicated in ROS signaling. LPS-associated induction of the ROS mediator H₂O₂, as well as MAO/B and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α levels were validated in the rat histological sections and a porcine junctional epithelial cell culture model. Topical MAO inhibitors significantly counteracted LPS-associated elevation of H₂O₂ production and TNF-α expression in vivo and in vitro, inhibited disease-associated apical migration and proliferation of junctional epithelium and inhibited induced systemic H₂O₂ levels and alveolar bone loss in vivo. These results suggest that LPS induces chronic wounds via elevated MAO/B-mediated increases in H₂O₂ and TNF-α activity by epithelial cells and is further associated with more distant effects on systemic oxidative stress and alveolar bone loss.