Porphyromonas gingivalis in saliva associates with chronic and aggressive periodontitis

• Main Authors: Christian Damgaard, Anne Katrine Danielsen, Christian Enevold, Laura Massarenti, Claus Henrik Nielsen, Palle Holmstrup, Daniel Belstrøm
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-01-01
• Series: Journal of Oral Microbiology
• Subjects: periodontal disease; periodontitis; porphyromonas gingivalis; microbiota; homings; saliva
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20002297.2019.1653123

Objective: To characterize the salivary microbiota of patients with aggressive periodontitis, patients with chronica periodontitis and orally healthy individuals. Methods: A total of 81 unstimulated saliva samples from aggressive periodontitis patients (n = 31), chronic periodontitis patients (n = 25), and orally healthy controls (n = 25) were examined. The V1-V3 region of the 16S rDNA gene was sequenced with Illumina® MiSeqTM, and sequences were annotated to the expanded Human Oral Microbiome Database (eHOMD). Results: A mean percentage of 97.6 (range: 89.8–99.7) of sequences could be identified at species level. Seven bacterial species, including Porphyromonas gingivalis, were identified with significantly higher relative abundance in saliva from aggressive periodontitis patients than in saliva from orally healthy controls. Salivary abundance of P. gingivalis could discriminate aggressive (AUC: 0.80, p = 0.0001) and chronic periodontitis (AUC: 0.72, p = 0.006) from healthy controls. Likewise, salivary presence of P. gingivalis was significantly associated with aggressive (p < 0.0001, RR: 8.1 (95% CI 2.1–31.2)) and chronic periodontitis (p = 0.002, RR: 6.5 (95% CI: 1.6–25.9)). Conclusion: Salivary presence and relative abundance of P. gingivalis associate with aggressive and chronic periodontitis, but do not discriminate between aggressive and chronic periodontitis.