Clinical and immunological assessment of periodontal disease in Japanese leprosy patients.

Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease caused by the infection of periodontopathic bacteria in dental plaque. However, an individual's susceptibility to this disease appears to be associated with multiple genetic factors, as seen in the case of leprosy. In order to gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of periodontal disease in subjects with leprosy, we investigated the clinical features of periodontitis and the immunological responses against periodontopathic bacteria in 382 subjects with a history of leprosy and 451 age-matched control subjects. The prevalence of periodontitis and the degree of periodontal pocket depth were found to be significantly higher in leprosy patients than in age-matched controls. Furthermore, a comparison of the clinical parameters of lepromatous leprosy (L-lep) and tuberculoid leprosy (T-lep) patients showed that the probing pocket depth of L-lep patients with periodontal disease was significantly higher than that for T-lep patients. In contrast, serum IgG titers against Porphyromonas gingivalis in L-lep patients were significantly lower than in T-lep patients. These results imply that L-lep patients show more severe periodontal disease than T-lep patients or age-matched control subjects, and that low humoral immunity against P. gingivalis might be one of the genetic factors determining periodontal disease susceptibility in leprosy patients.

[Protease activity of microflora in the oral cavity of patients with periodontitis].

Microbial spectrum and non-specific as well as specific IgA1 protease activity of isolated microorganisms were investigated in gingival liquid of patients with periodontitis. Microorganisms from the gingival liqud of these patients belonged to conditional-pathogenic obligate and facultatively anaerobic bacteria. 24 strains of microorganisms have been identified. Nonspecific proteolytic activity was found in the following microorganisms: Actinomyces israelii, Actinomyces naeslundii, Aerococcus viridans, Bifidobacterium longum, Neisseria subflave, Streptococcus parvulus, Eubacterium alactolyticum, Lactobaccilus catenoforme, Bacillus spp. Specific IgA1-protease activity and lack of proteolytic activity towards IgG was found in Streptococcus acidominimus, Streptococcus hansenii, Streptococcus salivarius, Leptotrychia buccalis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Neisseria sicca. No proteolytic activity was found in cultivation medium of Eubacterium alactolyticum (1 strain), Prevotella buccalis, Aerococcus viridans and Streptococcus sanguis.

"Hanseniaspora uvarum" the ultrastructural morphology of a rare ascomycete, isolated from oral thrush.

Superficial fungal infections, including oral thrush, often affect aged full denture wearers and many individuals over 65 years old. The aim of this study was to examine the ultrastructural morphology of a very rare yeast, named Hanseniaspora uvarum/guillermondi, member of the Ascomycetes family, whose pathogenesis and behaviour is not widely known. The yeast was isolated from whitish lesions of the buccal mucosa of an 70 years old woman. The specimen was collected with a mouth swab and cultured in Sabourauds-Dextrose agar. The identification of the organism was performed on the Api 20C Aux system. The yeast colonies, after fixation in glutaraldehyde 3% for 1 hour were immersed in OsO4 1% solution for 1 hour and were "in tissue" stained with uranyl acetate. Ultrathin sections, were observed with TEM Jeol C x 100. Our ultrastructural observations showed that this yeast had a thick cell wall in which the outer surface appeared fuzzy. In some yeasts we observed multilayered intracytoplasmic membrane a figure which is not described as far as we know in any yeast. Many vacuoles were frequently observed in the cytoplasm and especially in the center of the oval shaped cells. Bilateral budding which form ascospores is identical for the morphology of this yeast.