$1.85m grant to study blocking oral bacteria from damaging pregnancy

Yiping Han

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A researcher at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine will use a $1.85 million grant to study how to block oral bacteria from reaching and harming an unborn child — a path she’s linked to prental problems.

Yiping Han’s focus is on fusobacterium nucleatum and a specific molecule, FadA, that may trigger a process that lets the bacterium enter and spread within a woman’s placenta during birth. Fusobacterium contributes to peridontal disease, but once it reaches the placenta it could be a cause of preterm and stillborn births, according to Han’s research.

“We want to block the bacteria before it can do any damage,” Han stated in a university press release. “It’s an upstream approach to go back to where the whole process begins and stop it from starting its destruction.”

Han also thinks her research could also unlock ways to prevent periodontal disease, which in some form effects 80 percent of all Americans. Periodontal disease has been linked to such health problem as arthritis, diabetes and heart disease.

The five-year grant is from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Researchat the National Institutes of Health.