Abstract
Occlusal disharmony causes chronic stress and leads to sympathetic nerve activity. Various types of chronic stress are associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular disease, but the relationship between occlusal disharmony and cardiovascular disease remains poorly understood. Therefore, in this work, we examined the effects of occlusal disharmony on cardiac function in (BO, bite-opening) mice, in which a 0.7 mm space was introduced by cementing a suitable appliance onto the mandibular incisors. Cardiac function was significantly decreased in the BO group compared to the control group. Cardiac fibrosis and myocyte oxidative DNA damage were significantly increased in the BO group. The BO-induced cardiac dysfunction was associated with increased Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and phospholamban phosphorylation at threonine-17 and serine-16, as well as activation of calmodulin kinase II signaling. These data suggest that occlusal disharmony might cause sympathetic nerve activity in the heart, leading to cardiac remodeling and dysfunction.
