NLRP3 and periodontitis: In chronic apical periodontitis, the presence of major periodontal pathogens such as P. endodontalis, F. nucleatum, and P. gingivalis has also been shown to correlate with increased expression of NLRP3 and AIM2 in periapical lesions, suggesting that the inflammatory responses in these lesions are largely mediated through activation of these inflammasomes [70,74,75].