How diabetes makes gum disease worse
Official title: Diabetes-enhanced Experimental Periodontitis
Funded at University of Pennsylvania · NIH-11261520 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Looking at how diabetes changes immune cells in the gums to explain why people with diabetes get more severe gum disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Pennsylvania NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Philadelphia, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2007 |
| Project end | January 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $417,125 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DE017732-16 |
| Project ID | NIH-11261520 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with diabetes who have chronic periodontitis or frequent gum infections would be the most relevant group for these findings.
✕Less likely to help
People without diabetes or those whose gum problems are primarily mechanical or non-inflammatory may not directly benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This work looks at how diabetes alters dendritic cells, a key immune cell, in gum tissue so that gum disease (periodontitis) gets worse. The team will use single-cell RNA sequencing to read gene activity in individual immune cells and spatial transcriptomics to map where those cells sit in the tissue. Advanced bioinformatics will be used to find genes and pathways that are turned on or off in diabetes, and key findings will be validated in tissue samples. The project builds on new preliminary data showing diabetes-related changes in dendritic cell gene expression in vivo.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reveal immune pathways that explain worse gum disease in people with diabetes and point to new targets for prevention or treatment.
How similar studies have gone: Single-cell RNA-seq has mapped immune cell changes in periodontal disease before, but combining scRNA-seq with spatial transcriptomics to pinpoint diabetes-driven changes in dendritic cells is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Graves, Dana T — University of Pennsylvania
- Study coordinator: Graves, Dana T
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.