MLKL and periodontitis: Furthermore, sagittal cross-sections of gingival tissues revealed a statistically significant enrichment of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL)-positive and phosphorylated mixed-lineage kinase domain-like protein (p-MLKL)+ cells in the periodontitis group compared with healthy individuals (Fig. 1j, k), which highlighted the substantial activation of cell death pathways in the context of periodontal inflammation.