The osteoimmune cell atlas of peri‐implantitis: A narrative scoping review
BACKGROUND/AIM: Peri-implantitis represents a complex osteoimmune disorder characterized by dysregulated cellular ecosystems that drive chronic inflammation and accelerated peri-implant bone loss. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This article was designed as a narrative scoping review to map and integrate the available evidence from transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), spatial transcriptomics, flow cytometry, and immunohistochemistry to construct a comprehensive cellular atlas of peri-implantitis. KEY FINDINGS: neutrophil subsets with NETosis-associated activity, inflammatory macrophage states, altered Th17/Treg-related immune responses, and expanded B-cell/plasma-cell compartments forming organized adaptive immune niches. Proposed molecular mechanisms include NF-κB-related inflammatory activation, CXCL13-associated adaptive immune organization, NETosis-related pathways, and RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenic signaling. However, several of these pathways remain incompletely validated in human peri-implantitis tissue. Critical knowledge gaps include limited direct evidence for NLRP3 inflammasome activation, uncharacterized type I interferon signaling, unresolved hierarchies of cellular RANKL sources, and limited functional data for rare immune populations. CONCLUSIONS: The peri-implantitis osteoimmune microenvironment constitutes a highly organized, self-reinforcing inflammatory ecosystem. Progress toward precision therapeutic strategies requires spatial multiomics at subcellular resolution, longitudinal human studies, and functional ex vivo validation models to interrogate the self-sustaining circuits identified here.
Authors
- Anton Sculean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2836-5477)
- Frank Schwarz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-9903)
- Emilio Alfredo Cafferata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9243-1382)
Institutions
- Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Universidad Científica del Sur (PE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Periodontology 2000
- Published
- 2026-10-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/prd.70095
- Primary Topic
- Dental Implant Techniques and Outcomes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00