Prevalence of Treponema denticola and Porphyromonas gingivalis in plaque from periodontally-healthy and periodontally-diseased sites

Abstract

Summary. Intracrevicular plaque from periodontally-healthy individuals who had refrained from oral hygiene measures for 24 h prior to sampling, and subgingival plaque from diseased sites of patients with chronic periodontitis were screened by ELISA for the presence of Porph~~omonns gingirdis and Treponema denticola. The samples were also subjected to the PerioScan test to detect the presence of enzymes capable of degrading N-benzoyl-DL-arginine-Z-naphthylamide (BANA). Of the 14 1 samples from periodontally-healthy sites, 73 O h contained T. denticola antigens and 78 * / o P. gingiualis antigens, compared to 43 YO and 59 YO, respectively, in plaque samples from the 159 diseased sites. A positive reaction in the PerioScan test was obtained in 89% of plaque samples from diseased sites and in 60% of those from healthy sites. The correlation between the results of the two assays was poor in the case of intracrevicular plaque from healthy sites. However, with plaque samples from diseased sites, the results of the PerioScan test showed very strong correlation with those obtained with the ELISA, suggesting that the former may be a useful, rapid means of indicating the presence of T. denticola and P. gingicalis in such plaque samples.

A member of the peptidase M48 superfamily ofPorphyromonas gingivalisis associated with virulencein vitroandin vivo

“…Detection of P . gingivalis in similar frequency from periodontally healthy and diseased sites is not uncommon and has been previously observed (26, 27). Therefore, bacteria could be present but not necessarily expressing virulence genes until a triggering event happens and initiation of disease occurs.…”

Invasive differences among Porphyromonas gingivalis strains from healthy and diseased periodontal sites

“…Studies have shown that P. gingivalis occurs with greater frequency and at higher levels in sites that appear to be disease active (6,(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38) and that certain periodontal health indicators in individuals are inversely correlated with the presence or with the levels of P. gingivalis (39)(40)(41)(42)(43). However, other studies have suggested that P. gingivalis is found more frequently in periodontally healthy sites than in sites of periodontal disease (44,45).…”

Analysis of a Band 7/MEC-2 Family Gene of Porphyromonas gingivalis

“…Analysis of the data reported here indicates that the expression of this gene is highly associated with periodontal disease sites, with 88% of plaque samples from diseased sites testing positive for expression of PG1334 compared with 42% in healthy sites, even though P. gingivalis was detected equally from both sites. Other studies have also demonstrated that P. gingivalis could be detected in high frequency from periodontally healthy and diseased sites (Gornitsky et al ., 1991; Wilson et al , 1993). …”