Preliminary Analysis of Periodontal Pathogens in Taiwan

Objectives: There is little information regarding the composition of periodontal pathogens in Taiwan. The present study aims to compare the proportion and prevalence of supragingival and subgingival plaque in diseased site and healthy control targeting on the following species, Porphyromonas gingivalis(P.g.), Tannerella forsythia(T.f.), Treponema denticola(T.d.), Eikenella corrodens(E.c.), Campylobacter rectus(C.r.), Prevotella intermedia(P.i.).

Methods: A total of 116 samples were collected from 42 individuals with moderate to severe periodontitis (34 chronic periodontitis, 8 aggressive periodontitis). The targeted species were detected by indirect immunofluorescent assay. Statistic analyses were performed by Kruskal-Wallis tests and Chi-square test for trend.

Results: Proportion of P.g., T.d., T.f., C.r. in chronic periodontitis were highest in subgingival site (9.13%, 4.77%, 3.32%, 1.66% respectively, p<0.050) compared to supragingival diseased site and healthy control. E.c. was highest (1.85 %) in healthy control (p=0.660). P.i. was highest (3.28%) in supragingival diseased site (p=0.054). In aggressive periodontitis, proportion of P.g., T.f., T.d., C.r. were highest in subgingival site (15.25%, 5.44%, 4.96%, 1.54% respectively; p</=0.001, p=0.196 for C.r.).E.c. was highest (1.12%) in healthy control (p=0.963).P.i. was highest (5.53%) in supragingival diseased site (p<0.050). Prevalence of P.g., T.f., T.d. in chronic periodontitis were highest in subgingival site (100%, 100%, 36.56% respectively, p<0.001). C.r. was 100% in both diseased site (p<0.050). E.c. was 88% in healthy control and 94.12% in diseased site (p=0.615). P.i. was 100% in all sites. In aggressive periodontitis, the prevalence were all 100% in subgingival site, except E.c. (75%, p=0.704).

Conclusions: In subgingival site of chronic periodontitis, P.g. was the predominant species in Taiwanese subjects followed by T.d., T.f., P.i., E.c., C.r.. It was interested to found out that P.i. has no statistic difference in all three examined site. Similar results was found in E.c.. It's too early to draw a conclusion related to aggressive periodontitis due to the small sample size.