Quantification of subgingival bacterial pathogens at different stages of periodontal diseases

Anaerobic gram-negative oral bacteria such as Treponema denticola, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Campylobacter rectus, and Fusobacterium nucleatum are closely associated with periodontal diseases. We measured the relative population (bacterial levels) of these oral pathogens in subgingival tissues of patients at different stages of Korean chronic periodontal diseases. We divided the individuals into those with chronic gingivitis (G), moderate periodontitis (P1), severe periodontitis (P2), and normal individuals (N) (n = 20 for each group) and subgingival tissue samples were collected. We used real-time PCR with TaqMan probes to evaluate the change of periodontal pathogens among different stages of periodontitis. Bacterial levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans and C. rectus are significantly increased in individuals with chronic gingivitis and moderate periodontitis, but unchanged in severe periodontitis patients. These results suggest that analyzing certain bacterial levels among total oral pathogens may facilitate understanding of the role of periodontal bacteria in the early stages of periodontitis.