title: Subgingival bacterial clusters and serum antibody response as markers of extent and severity of periodontitis in adult Chinese.
abstract: This study evaluated the associations between clinical, microbiological, and antibody activity manifestations of periodontitis in 123 adult rural Chinese subjects with no dental intervention. All participants were registered for full-mouth clinical attachment level (CAL) and pocket probing depth (PD) measurements, and microbial samples were taken from four sites and analyzed for 18 different bacterial species using the 'checkerboard'. Serum from each individual was analyzed to determine the antibody activity against the same 18 species. Exploratory factor analysis disclosed two microbial factors - Factor 1, consisting of seven species associated with periodontal health ('early colonizers'); and Factor 2, consisting of eight species associated with periodontitis ('putative periodontopathogens') - which explained 87% of the variation among the microbial variables. Factor 2 was consistently associated with disease-severity measures, whereas the 'early colonizer' factor was not. The antibody response showed weak or no correlations with bacterial load or with disease severity. We conclude that the bacteria investigated are resident in the subgingival plaque; that their load and proportions in the pocket may be ecologically driven; and that the antibody response is based on bacterial carrier state rather than on disease. The different antibody-response pattern found between the individuals may suggest that each individual could be classified as a good or a weak immune responder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Odontology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dahlén
authors.affiliation: Beijing Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Min
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Odontology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dahlgren
authors.affiliation: Section of Oral and Diagnostic Sciences, Division of Periodontics, College of Dental Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Panos P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Papapanou
authors.affiliation: Department of Dentistry, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Vibeke
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baelum
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fejerskov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001439:Bacteroides; D003773:Dental Plaque; D006801:Humans; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010514:Periodontal Pocket; D010518:Periodontitis; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis
keywords: PRC China; factor analysis; immune response; periodontal microbiology; periodontitis