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. 2012 Jul;16(3):398-403.
doi: 10.4103/0972-124X.100919.

Presence of Helicobacter pylori in subgingival plaque of periodontitis patients with and without dyspepsia, detected by polymerase chain reaction and culture

Sangita Agarwal  1 , K D Jithendra
Affiliations

Presence of Helicobacter pylori in subgingival plaque of periodontitis patients with and without dyspepsia, detected by polymerase chain reaction and culture

Sangita Agarwal et al. J Indian Soc Periodontol. 2012 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Helicobacter pylori is an important gastrointestinal pathogen that is strongly associated with gastritis as well as peptic ulcer disease. Antimicrobial therapy frequently fails to cure H. pylori infection, which suggests there may be sanctuary sites where the organism resides. This study was aimed to assess the role of oral cavity as a reservoir of H. pylori by evaluating the occurrence of the organism in subgingival plaque of dyspeptic patients by polymerase chain reaction as well as culture.

Materials and methods: Thirty chronic periodontitis patients whose biopsy specimens were found to be H. pylori positive with rapid urease test and histopathologic examination were considered as cases and 20 chronic periodontitis patients who never had any symptoms of gastritis or peptic ulcer were taken as controls. Subgingival plaque samples were collected and sent to microbiological laboratory for detection of H. pylori by 16S rRNA based polymerase chain reaction as well as culture.

Results: 60% of the samples were found to be positive with polymerase chain reaction in the case group when compared to 15% in the controls. Also, 30% of the cases were found to be positive with culture compared to none in controls.

Conclusion: A higher frequency of detection of H. pylori in those patients with positive antral biopsy report was seen. Also, polymerase chain reaction was found to be more sensitive than culture for detection. Thus, we conclude that detection of H. pylori in dental plaque of dyspeptic patients cannot be neglected and might represent a risk factor for recolonization of stomach after systemic eradication therapy.

Keywords: Culture; Helicobacter pylori; gastritis; polymerase chain reaction; subgingival plaque.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Rapid urease test for detection of H. pylori in antral biopsy specimens
Figure 2
Figure 2
Subgingival plaque collection
Figure 3
Figure 3
Selective media for H. pylori
Figure 4
Figure 4
Culture plate showing H. pylori colonies
Figure 5
Figure 5
PCR detection kit for H. pylori
Figure 6
Figure 6
Thermocycler
Figure 7
Figure 7
Gel electrophoresis results of PCR showing samples 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15 positive for H. pylori in cases
Figure 8
Figure 8
Gel electrophoresis results of PCR showing samples 2, 3, 12 positive for H. pylori in controls
Figure 9
Figure 9
Culture results comparing cases and controls
Figure 10
Figure 10
PCR results comparing cases and controls
Figure 11
Figure 11
Comparison of PCR with culture
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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