title: Prevalence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans in Sudanese patients with aggressive periodontitis: a case-control study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is considered a possible etiological agent for aggressive periodontitis. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the JP2 clone and non-JP2 genotypes of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the subgingival plaque of patients with aggressive periodontitis and controls among Sudanese high-school students.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a previous study we examined a large representative sample of students attending high schools in Khartoum, Sudan. In this population, 17 patients with aggressive periodontitis and 17 controls (14-19 years of age) consented to participate in the present study. The subjects underwent a clinical periodontal examination, and subgingival dental plaque samples were collected using paper points. The presence of the A. actinomycetemcomitans JP2 clone and non-JP2 genotypes were assessed using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and the PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The JP2 clone of A. actinomycetemcomitans was not detected in the subgingival plaque of either the cases or the controls. Non-JP2 types of A. actinomycetemcomitans were detected in the subgingival plaque of 12 (70.6%) patients with aggressive periodontitis and from only one (5.9%) control subject, showing a significantly higher frequency of detection in cases than in controls (p = 0.0001). The odds ratio for the detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans in the subgingival plaque of the patients with aggressive periodontitis was 38.4 (95% confidence interval: 4.0-373.0; p = 0.002). The PCR and LAMP methods showed identical results pertaining to the identification of non-JP2 types of A. actinomycetemcomitans.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The JP2 clone of A. actinomycetemcomitans was not detected in the subgingival plaque of high school subjects in Sudan. The detection of non-JP2 types of A. actinomycetemcomitans may be a useful marker of increased risk for development of aggressive periodontitis in young subjects.
authors.affiliation: Section for Microbiology and Immunology, The Gade Institute, University of Bergen, Norway. Amal.elamin@gades.uib.no
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elamin
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Albandar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Poulsen
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bakken
mesh_terms: D000189:Actinobacillus Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D016976:Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D010520:Aggressive Periodontitis / Q000382:microbiology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002999:Clone Cells; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000382:microbiology; D005098:Exotoxins / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000032:analysis; D013397:Sudan; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D005098:Exotoxins; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; C018579:leukotoxin