Characterization of the subgingival microbiota in the peritoneal dialysis patients with periodontitis

Periodontitis is an oral chronic inflammatory disease caused by dental plaque. It is comorbid with numerous systemic diseases and associated with several predisposing factors, such as chronic kidney disease (CKD). Peritoneal dialysis is one of the ultimate treatments for patients with severe CKD. However, peritoneal dialysis patients with periodontitis often will be accompanied with more poor oral hygiene and periodontal clinical indexes. This study aimed to compare the microbial flora of periodontitis patients with or without peritoneal dialysis.

Sixteen peritoneal dialysis patients with periodontitis (P group) and 16 patients with periodontitis only (C group) were selected. Subgingival plaque samples of them were processed for bioinformatics analysis by 16S rDNA gene sequencing.

The diversity indices and species richness in the P group were insignificantly higher than that in the C group (P > 0.05). The two groups exhibited different microbial community structure. At Genus level, Prevotellaceae, Selenomonas, Aggregatibacter, Anaeroglobus, TM7_[G-5], and Centipeda were significantly enriched in the P group than those in the C group.

This study demonstrated that specific microbes enriched in the subgingival flora of peritoneal dialysis patients with periodontitis.