Our results revealed the following aspects in diabetes mellitus–periodontitis: (1) hyperglycemia aggravates periodontitis by promoting macrophage pyroptosis and the secretion of inflammatory cytokine IL-1β and (2) high glucose impairs autophagy via mTOR-ULK1 pathway, leading to the accumulation of ROS-generating mitochondria, and this in turn promotes inflammasome activation and pyroptosis in macrophages stimulated by LPS (Figure 7). Here, ULK1 is linked to periodontitis.