Possible correlation of specific bacteria detected by using a novel screening method and periodontal disease in dogs

This study sought to create a simple method for screening and detecting oral bacteria associated with periodontal disease as well as to identify the bacterial species that had the strongest correlation with disease severity in dogs. Fifty-two dogs from the Kagoshima University Veterinary Teaching Hospital were included. The periodontal disease status, which included gingival recession, root surface exposure, and gingival redness, was determined through visual examination. Oral swab samples were taken from each dog's gingival margin or tooth cervix using a sterile cotton swab following a standardized protocol. The collected samples were applied to our nanotechnology named sugar chain immobilized magnetized gold nanoparticle/magnetic microparticle (SGNP/MMP) method to obtain bacterial DNA, which was then subjected to qualitative and semiquantitative PCR analyses for 6 genera and 8 species of bacteria: Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis), Tannerella forsythia (T. forsythia), Treponema denticola (T. denticola), Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (A. actinomycetemcomitans), Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum), Prevotella intermedia (P. intermedia), Porphyromonas gulae (P. gulae), and Porphyromonas cangingivalis (P. cangingivalis). The severity of periodontal disease was most strongly correlated with T. denticola (associated with the gingival recession), followed by slight total bacteria and P. gingivalis+P. gulae, but no significant correlation was found with P. gulae. Within the scope of this study, the analytical method used may represent a useful standard for screening and detecting specific bacteria, and the quantity of T. denticola is linked to the severity of periodontal disease in dogs.