Genetic Profiling of <i>Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans</i> Serotype B Isolated from Periodontitis Patients Living in Sweden

• Main Authors: Anders Johansson, Rolf Claesson, Carola Höglund Åberg, Dorte Haubek, Mark Lindholm, Sarah Jasim, Jan Oscarsson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Pathogens
• Subjects: <i>Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans</i>; <i>cagE</i>; <i>virB1</i>; <i>virB4</i>; genotype; virulence
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/8/3/153

The bacterium <i>Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans</i> is associated with aggressive forms of periodontitis and with systemic diseases, such as endocarditis. By assessing a Ghanaian longitudinal adolescent cohort, we earlier recognized the <i>cagE</i> gene as a possible diagnostic marker for a subgroup of JP2 and non-JP2 genotype serotype b <i>A. actinomycetemcomitans</i> strains, associated with high leukotoxicity as determined in a semi-quantitative cell assay. This group of <i>A. actinomycetemcomitans</i> is associated with the progression of attachment loss. In the present work, we used conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and quantitative PCR to perform the <i>cagE</i> genotyping of our collection of 116 selected serotype b <i>A. actinomycetemcomitans</i> strains, collected over a period of 15 years from periodontitis patients living in Sweden. The <i>A. actinomycetemcomitans</i> strains carrying <i>cagE</i> (referred to as <i>cagE</i>⁺; n = 49) were compared to the <i>cagE</i>-negative strains (n = 67), present at larger proportions in the subgingival plaque samples, and were also much more prevalent in the young (&#8804;35 years) compared to in the old (&gt;35 years) group of patients. Our present results underline the potential use of <i>cagE</i> genotyping in the risk assessment of the development of periodontal attachment loss in Swedish adolescents.