Association between infection of different strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in subgingival plaque and clinical parameters in chronic periodontitis

Objective： The aim of this study was to investigate subgingival infection frequencies ofPorphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans strains with genetic variation in Chinese chronic periodontitis （CP） patients and to evaluate its correlation with clinical parameters. Methods： Two multiplex polymerase chain reaction （PCR） assays were developed to detect the 16SrDNA, collagenase （prtC） and fimbria （fimA） genes of P. gingivalis and the 16SrDNA, leukotoxin （lktA） and fimbria-associated protein （fap） genes ofA. actinomycetemcomitans in 60 sulcus samples from 30 periodontal healthy subjects and in 122 subgingival plaque samples from 61 patients with CP. The PCR products were further T-A cloned and sent for nucleotide sequence analysis. Results： The 16SrDNA,prtC andfimA genes ofP. gingivalis were detected in 92.6%, 85.2% and 80.3% of the subgingival plaque samples respectively, while the 16SrDNA, lktA andfap genes ofA. actinomycetemcomitans were in 84.4%, 75.4% and 50.0% respectively. Nucleotide sequence analysis showed 98.62%-100% homology of the PCR products in these genes with the reported sequences. P. gingivalis strains with prtC＋/fimA＋ and A. actinomycetemcomitans with lktA＋ were predominant in deep pockets （〉6 mm） or in sites with attachment loss 〉5 mm than in shallow pockets （3-4 mm） or in sites with attachment loss 〈2 mm （P〈0.05）. P. gingivalis strains withprtC＋/fimA＋ also showed higher frequency in gingival index （GI）=3 than in GI=1 group （P〈0.05）. Conclusion： Infection ofP. gingivalis with prtC＋/fimA＋ and A. actinomycetemcomitans with lktA＋ correlates with periodontal destruction of CP in Chinese. Nonetheless P. gingivalis fim4, prtC genes and A. actinomycetem- comitans lktA gene are closely associated with periodontal destruction, while A. actinomycetemcomitansfap gene is not.

Association between coinfection of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and Treponema denticola and periodontal tissue destruction in chronic periodontitis

Background The association between the infection of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomy-cetemcomitans and Treponema denticola in chronic periodontitis (CP) and the severity of periodontal disease remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the subgingival infection frequencies of three periodontopathic bacteria in Chinese CP patients and to evaluate the correlations between infection by these bacteria and periodontal destruction.Methods A multiple PCR assay using primers derived from 16SrDNA genes of P. gingivalis, A. actinomy-cetemitans and T. denticola was established to measure simultaneously the presence of the three microbes in 162 subgingival samples from 81 Chinese CP patients. Results The positive rates of P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemitans and T. denticola in the subgingival samples were 84.6%, 83.3% and 88.3%, respectively. Of the subgingival samples, 68% revealed the coinfection of all the three microbes. The infection rates with P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemitans or T. denticola alone was 5.9% (1/17), 17.6% (3/17) and 76.5% (13/17), respectively. A close association was present between the A. actinomycetemitans infection and gingival index (GI) (P<0.01), but not between P. gingivalis or T. denticola infection and GI (P>0.05). P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemitans were more frequently detectable in middle and deep pockets than in shallow ones (P<0.01), while T. denticola was found remarkably often in deep pockets (P<0.05). The coinfection rate of the three microbes was significantly higher in sites with severe periodontitis than in those with mild periodontitis (P<0.01). Conclusions The multiple PCR established in this study can be used as a sensitive and specific method to simultaneously detect all three microbes in subgingival samples. A. actinomycetemitans infection may be associated with CP and play an important role in the periodontal tissue destruction. The coinfection of P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemitans and T. denticola can cause more serious periodontal destruction than infection of any one or two of the three microbes.