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. 2021 Dec;51(6):409-421.
doi: 10.5051/jpis.2100180009.

Subgingival pathogens in chronic periodontitis patients affected by type 2 diabetes mellitus: a retrospective case-control study

Marco Montevecchi  1 , Leoluca Valeriani  2 , Maria Rosaria Gatto  3 , Giovanni D'Alessandro  4 , Gabriela Piana  4
Affiliations

Subgingival pathogens in chronic periodontitis patients affected by type 2 diabetes mellitus: a retrospective case-control study

Marco Montevecchi et al. J Periodontal Implant Sci. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence and bacterial load of 6 main periodontal pathogens between pairs of periodontal patients with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans genotypes were also investigated.

Methods: Twenty patients affected by chronic periodontitis and type 2 diabetes were retrospectively selected and matched to 20 patients without diabetes on the basis of the degree and severity of periodontal disease. Microbiological data of subgingival biofilms were analysed and compared for the examined pathogens: A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Treponema denticola, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Tannerella forsythia.

Results: The pairs were balanced in terms of demographic and clinical parameters, except for bleeding on probing and suppuration. In the microbiological test sites (4 for each patient), the mean probing pocket depth was 6.34±1.63 mm in patients with diabetes and 6.41±1.78 mm in patients without diabetes. No significant difference between pairs in the prevalence of P. gingivalis or the distribution of its genotypes was recorded. Patients with diabetes had a significantly greater amount of total bacterial load, P. gingivalis, T. denticola, T. forsythia, and F. nucleatum (P<0.05). Moreover, patients with diabetes had a higher number of sites with a greater cell count than patients without diabetes. When compared to the total bacterial load, only T. forsythia maintained its relative load in patients with diabetes (P=0.001).

Conclusions: This retrospective matched study supports the hypothesis that microbiological differences exist among periodontal patients with and without diabetes mellitus.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03786133.

Keywords: Microbiology; Periodontitis; Tannerella forsythia; Type 2 diabetes.

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Conflict of interest statement

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

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study design.
T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus, NDM: non-diabetes mellitus.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Bar graph showing the absolute median cell count in patients with diabetes and patients without diabetes. Only results exceeding the sensitivity of the test were reported.
T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus, NDM: non-diabetes mellitus.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Bar graph showing the median relative bacterial load in patients with diabetes and patients without diabetes. Only results exceeding the sensitivity of the test were reported.
T2DM: type 2 diabetes mellitus, NDM: non-diabetes mellitus.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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