Subgingival microflora, dental and periodontal conditions in patients with hereditary fructose intolerance

Hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) is a rare autosomally recessive disease which leads to severe hypoglycemia. The fructose-free diet of these patients apparently influences dental health. Half of the patients are free of caries, but there are no reports on their periodontal condition nor on the composition of their subgingival microflora. Therefore 18 patient with HFI were examined for the following parameters: radiographic bone loss, caries rate, gingival bleeding, occurrence of calculus, pocket depths, salivary flow rate, buffer capacity and pH from paraffin wax-stimulated saliva. Salivary S. mutans and lactobacilli were also enumerated. Specific antibody titers from whole saliva and serum to Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans gamma 4, Bacteroides gingivalis, and Capnocytophaga ochracea were determined with ELISA. Finally the subgingival plaque was analyzed by culture. Altogether 196 anaerobic or microaerophilic isolates representing 29 different species were obtained from the HFI patients and 164 isolates of 26 species from the controls. The frequency of Actinomyces odontolyticus, Veillonella parvula, and Wolinella recta in the HFI patients was significantly high The DMF-induces were lower in the study group than in the controls and so was the occurrence of S. mutans and lactobacilli in the saliva. Of the periodontal parameters examined, the only difference found was an increased incidence of gingival bleeding and calculus formation in the HFI patients. The results suggest that in the HFI patients the common gingival bleeding is associated with the more frequent occurrence of Actinomyces odontolyticus, Veillonella parvula, and Wolinella recta.