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. 2021 Oct;51(5):316-328.
doi: 10.5051/jpis.2006640332.

Prevalence and abundance of 9 periodontal pathogens in the saliva of periodontally healthy adults and patients undergoing supportive periodontal therapy

Woo-Ri Jung  1   2 , Ji-Young Joo  1   2 , Ju-Youn Lee  1   3 , Hyun-Joo Kim  1   4
Affiliations

Prevalence and abundance of 9 periodontal pathogens in the saliva of periodontally healthy adults and patients undergoing supportive periodontal therapy

Woo-Ri Jung et al. J Periodontal Implant Sci. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the prevalence and abundance of 9 representative periodontal pathogens in the saliva samples of periodontally healthy subjects (PH) and patients with periodontitis who underwent supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). The age-specific distribution of these pathogens in periodontally healthy individuals was also analyzed.

Methods: One hundred subjects (aged >35 years) were recruited (50 each in the PH and SPT groups) between August 2016 and April 2019. The prevalence and abundance of periodontal pathogens in the PH group were compared with those in periodontally healthy young subjects (94 subjects; aged <35 years), who were included in our previous study. DNA copy numbers of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa), Porphyromonas gingivalis (Pg), Tannerella forsythia (Tf), Treponema denticola (Td), Prevotella intermedia (Pi), Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn), Campylobacter rectus (Cr), Peptostreptococcus anaerobius (Pa), and Eikenella corrodens (Ec) were analyzed using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The detection frequencies of all pathogens, except Aa, were high in the PH and SPT groups. The ranking order of pathogen DNA copy numbers was similar in both groups. In both groups, Fn had the highest abundance, Aa had the lowest abundance. Additionally, Td was significantly more abundant in men than in women in both groups (P<0.05). Compared with the PH group, the SPT group exhibited significantly lower total bacteria and Fn abundance and higher Pg abundance (P<0.05). The age-specific pathogen distribution analysis revealed a significantly low Aa abundance and high Tf and Cr abundance in the PH group.

Conclusions: The clinical parameters and microbial profiles were similar between the SPT and PH groups. However, patients with periodontitis require supportive care to prevent recurrence. As the abundance of some bacteria varied with age, future studies must elucidate the correlation between age-related physiological changes and periodontal bacterial composition.

Keywords: Adult; Aging; Bacterial load; Chronic periodontitis; Maintenance; Saliva.

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Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article is reported.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of 9 periodontal pathogens in PH group (aged >35 years). Detection frequencies (A) and DNA copy numbers (B) of 9 periodontal pathogens in the PH group. (C) Detection frequencies of 9 periodontal pathogens among men and women in the PH group. (D) Comparative analysis of DNA copy numbers of each pathogen and total bacteria among men and women in the PH group. Values are represented as the mean±standard deviation or percentage.
PH: periodontally healthy subjects, Aa: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Cr: Campylobacter rectus, Ec: Eikenella corrodens, Fn: Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pa: Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Pg: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pi: Prevotella intermedia, Td: Treponema denticola, Tf: Tannerella forsythia. a)P<0.05.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Distribution of 9 periodontal pathogens in patients with periodontitis who underwent SPT group (aged >35 years). Detection frequencies (A) and DNA copy numbers (B) of 9 periodontal pathogens in the SPT group. (C) Detection frequencies of 9 periodontal pathogens among men and women in the SPT group. (D) Comparative analysis of DNA copy numbers of each pathogen and total bacteria among men and women in the SPT group. Values are represented as the mean±standard deviation or percentage.
SPT: supportive periodontal therapy, Aa: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Cr: Campylobacter rectus, Ec: Eikenella corrodens, Fn: Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pa: Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Pg: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pi: Prevotella intermedia, Td: Treponema denticola, Tf: Tannerella forsythia. a)P<0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Comparative analysis of DNA copy numbers of 9 periodontal pathogens and total bacteria in PH group (aged >35 years) and patients with periodontitis who underwent SPT group (aged >35 years). Values are represented as mean±standard deviation or percentage.
PH: periodontally healthy subjects, SPT: supportive periodontal therapy, Aa: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Cr: Campylobacter rectus, Ec: Eikenella corrodens, Fn: Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pa: Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Pg: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pi: Prevotella intermedia, Td: Treponema denticola, Tf: Tannerella forsythia. a)P<0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Comparative analysis of the DNA copy number of 9 periodontal pathogens and total bacteria in PH group (aged >35 years) and PHY group (aged <35 years). Values are presented as the mean±standard deviation or percentage.
PH: periodontally healthy subjects, PHY: periodontally healthy young subjects, Aa: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Cr: Campylobacter rectus, Ec: Eikenella corrodens, Fn: Fusobacterium nucleatum, Pa: Peptostreptococcus anaerobius, Pg: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Pi: Prevotella intermedia, Td: Treponema denticola, Tf: Tannerella forsythia. a)P<0.05.
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