title: Prevotella nigrescens and Porphyromonas gingivalis are associated with signs of carotid atherosclerosis in subjects with and without periodontitis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oral microorganisms may be involved in the development of cardiovascular diseases, and Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the periodontal microorganisms that has been found in carotid atheroma. The aim of this work was to study subgingival microorganisms and early carotid lesions in subjects with and without periodontitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-eight subjects with periodontitis and 40 subjects without periodontitis underwent dental examinations in 2003. The presence of the periodontal microorganisms Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens and Tannerella forsythia was analyzed from subgingival plaque using PCR amplification. The common carotid artery was scanned using ultrasound and the calculated intima-media area (cIMA) was measured. The association between periodontitis, the cIMA value and the presence of periodontal microorganisms, together with several confounders, was studied in a multiple logistic regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Smoking [odds ratio (OR) = 5.64; p = 0.001), level of education (OR = 5.02; p < 0.05) and the presence of P. gingivalis (OR = 6.50; p < 0.05) were associated with periodontitis. Explanatory factors for the increased cIMA were periodontitis (OR = 4.22; p < 0.05), hypertension (OR = 4.81; p < 0.05), high body mass index (OR = 5.78; p < 0.01), male gender (OR = 3.30; p < 0.05) and poor socioeconomic status (OR = 4.34; p < 0.05). P. nigrescens (OR 4.08; p < 0.05) and P. gingivalis (OR 7.63; p < 0.01) also appeared as explanatory variables associated with increased cIMA values.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This cross-sectional study showed that P. nigrescens and P. gingivalis were significantly associated with increased cIMA values.
authors.affiliation: Division of Periodontology, Department of Dental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yakob
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Söder
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Meurman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jogestrand
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nowak
authors.forename: P-Ö
authors.initials: PÖ
authors.lastname: Söder
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D017536:Carotid Artery, Common / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000382:microbiology; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000382:microbiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010518:Periodontitis / Q000150:complications*; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D045242:Prevotella nigrescens / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012307:Risk Factors