Abstract
Background. Generalized periodontitis is a disease, the key link in the pathogenesis of which is inflammation. Inflammation is induced by bacterial pathogens through Toll-like receptors (TLR) of resident cells with the involvement of neutrophils, which migrate from the microcirculatory bed and produce pro-inflammatory cytokines. Under the influence of the latter, osteoclasts are activated and cause alveolar bone resorption. It is important to clarify the polymorphic state of Toll-like receptor genes, which significantly affects the effectiveness of the immune response. Aim: based on the analysis of literature data, to establish the importance of cell signaling pathways, in particular, Tolllike receptors and the polymorphic state of their genes, in the mechanisms of the occurrence of generalized periodontitis. Materials and methods. The subject of the search was scientific publications of Ukrainian and foreign literature over the past 10 years, containing the keywords: periodontal disease, generalized periodontitis, etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, Toll-like receptors, TLR4, risk factors, genetic polymorphisms using the open medical scientific database PubMed of the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM). At the first stage, 222 sources were selected, of which 33 were selected for this article. Results. Generalized periodontitis is one of the most common dental diseases, the difficulties of its timely diagnosis and effective treatment necessitate the search for new pathogenetic links that will become the basis for a more in-depth understanding of its pathogenesis and the development of new methods of diagnosis and treatment. TLRs are among the first to interact with pathogenic bacteria and trigger reactions of innate and adaptive immunity. Under the influence of TLRs, the level of cytokines, chemokines and other inflammatory mediators increases. TLR gene polymorphism determines the characteristics of individual reactivity, impaired TLR expression can lead to mucosal damage and generalization of the process. The distribution of polymorphisms differs in different populations, which necessitates a separate study in the Ukrainian population