Identification and quantitative analysis of Archaea involved in periodontal disease / 中华口腔医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To make qualitative and quantitative analysis of Archaea in subgingival plaque sample and to investigate the relationship between periodontal disease and Archaea.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Subgingival plaque was collected from 23 patients with aggressive periodontitis, 29 with chronic periodontitis, 35 with plaque-induced gingivitis and 38 healthy controls. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of methanogenic archaea was performed by amplification of the 16S rRNA genes in the DNA extracted from the plaque samples.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Archaea were found in 65% of aggressive periodontitis patients, 72% of chronic periodontitis, 26% of gingivitis and zero of healthy subjects. Quantitative analysis showed the average abundance of archaeal 16S rRNA gene in Archaea-positive patients was different among the three groups. The average 16S rRNA gene copy number from per microg wet plaque was 6.66 x 10(6) in aggressive periodontitis sufferers, 4.47 x 10(6) in chronic periodontitis and 1.78 x 10(6) in gingivitis groups. The prevalence of Archaea and the average Archaea 16S rRNA gene numbers in periodontitis groups were higher than those in gingivitis group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This suggests that Archaea may be implicated as causative agents for periodontitis.</p>