title: Prevalence of periodontal pathogens in localized and generalized forms of early-onset periodontitis.
abstract: The primary objectives of this study were to investigate the prevalence of 8 putative periodontal pathogens in subjects with early-onset periodontitis (EOP) and to evaluate the microbial differences between localized and generalized forms of this periodontal disease condition. Thirty-one females and 11 males with a mean age of 30.3 (s.d. 4.0) years were examined. Seventeen subjects had generalized (GEOP) and 25 had localized early-onset periodontitis (LEOP). Subgingival plaque samples were assayed using PCR which provided subject prevalence data for the pathogens; Bacteroides forsythus 78.6%, Treponema denticola 88.1%, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans 19.0%, Porphyromonas gingivalis 16.7%, Prevotella intermedia 40.4%, Prevotella nigrescens 61.9%, Eikenella corrodens 42.3% and Campylobacter rectus 92.8%. Only 3 healthy sites harbored one or more of these periodontal pathogens. Seven of the 8 subjects positive for A. actinomycetemcomitans had LEOP. P. intermedia was present in 58.8% of GEOP compared with 28% of LEOP subjects (p=0.046). At 82.4% of GEOP sites P. nigrescens was present while this bacteria was detected at 52% of LEOP (p=0.044). P. gingivalis was isolated from 22.6% of females but no male subjects (p=0.084). C. rectus was recovered from all female subjects compared to 72.7% of males (p=0.014). A. actinomycetemcomitans (37.5%) and C. rectus (86.5%) were more frequently identified in non-smokers compared to 7.6% and 68.8% of smokers, respectively (p <0.05). Microbial associations coincided with the clinical division of the cases into LEOP and GEOP in 83% of the subjects.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Mullally
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dace
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Shelburne
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Coulter
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D010519:Periodontium / Q000382:microbiology*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial