Subgingival Microbiota of Subjects with Generalized Chronic-Periodontitis and Type II-Diabetes

Type II-diabetes mellitus (TIIDM) is often characterized by a high predisposition to oral infections including periodontal disease. To date, only a limited amount of information is available which describes the subgingival microbiota of individuals with generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP) and TIIDM. Objectives: To describe and compare the subgingival microbiota of GCP Mexican subjects with and without TIIDM (non-TIIDM). Methods: 82 currently non-smoking Mexican subjects with GCP were selected for the study (DMTII n=37, non-DMTII n=45). Medical evaluations included levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol, LDL, HDL and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). All DMTII subjects had FPG levels >126mg/dl and HbA1c levels >6.5%. Periodontal measurements included plaque accumulation, gingival erythema, bleeding on probing, suppuration, pocket depth and attachment level recorded at 6 sites per tooth. Up to 28 subgingival plaque samples were collected from each subject from the mesiobuccal sites of every tooth excluding third molars. Samples were processed microbiologically with DNA probes to determine the levels and proportion of 40 microbial species using the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization technique. Results: All of the species tested were detected in both TIIDM and non-TIIDM subjects. However, important microbial differences between the 2 groups were detected. TIIDM subjects harbored significantly higher total bacterial counts than non-TIIDM individuals (p<0.001). Also, in comparison to non-TIIDM subjects, TIIDM individuals exhibited greater proportions of yellow (p<0.01) and orange (p<0.05) complex species, as well as of Prevotella nigrescens, Streptococcus mitis, Streptococcus oralis, Capnocytophaga sputigena (all p<0.01), Streptococcus intermedius (p<0.05) and Campylobacter gracilis (p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of the present study revealed that yellow-complex species are predominant both in levels and proportion in subgingival plaque samples from TIIDM subjects and suggest that some putative periodontal pathogens from the orange-complex may be responsible for the periodontal destruction observed in diabetic individuals with GCP. Supported by DGAPA-PAPIIT IN213006-3.