A Novel Chemically-Modified Curcumin 2.24: Short-term Systemic Treatment for Natural Periodontitis in Dogs

Chronic periodontitis, a severe periodontal inflammatory disease, is initiated by the anaerobic microbial biofilm, however the tissue-breakdown is predominantly mediated by the host-response. The pathogenesis mediated by the latter is characterized by the generation of inflammatory mediators (e.g., cytokines), and the production of collagenolytic and tissue-destructive enzymes (especially the matrix metalloproteinases, MMPs) causing connective tissue and bone destruction. These biochemical changes, such as over-production of MMP-9, might be detected in the very-early stage of this disease/inflammatory process, even before apparent clinical manifestations. Interestingly, our pilot study of a short-term/1-month therapy of CMC2.24 (a novel chemically-modified curcumin) in the beagle dogs with naturally-occurring periodontitis indicated that, it did appear to significantly reduce both pro- and activated-MMP-9 in peripheral blood, compared to placebo group at early stage (1 month), prior to apparent clinical improvement at late stage (3 months). And therefore, MMP-9 may serve as an early and sensitive biomarker that can precede and predict future clinical changes in disease severity and response to treatment which we observed in our long-term study in this dog model of natural periodontitis.