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Comparison of six typing methods for Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans
T J van Steenbergen1, C J Bosch-Tijhof, A J van Winkelhoff
1Department of Oral Microbiology, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology
|November 1, 1994
Summary
Accurate typing methods are crucial for studying Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, a key pathogen in severe periodontitis. Restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) and ribotyping demonstrated superior discriminatory power compared to other methods for strain differentiation.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Periodontology
- Molecular Epidemiology
Background:
- Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a significant pathogen implicated in severe periodontitis.
- Effective epidemiological studies require reliable methods for tracking pathogenic clones and transmission routes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the discriminatory power and reproducibility of six distinct typing methods for Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans.
- To identify the most effective methods for strain differentiation in epidemiological contexts.
Main Methods:
- Serotyping, biotyping, antibiogram typing, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of outer membrane proteins, restriction endonuclease analysis (REA), and ribotyping were employed.
- These methods were applied to five reference strains and 27 clinical isolates from periodontitis patients.
Main Results:
- Serotyping, biotyping, and SDS-PAGE showed low discriminatory potential but good reproducibility.
- REA and ribotyping exhibited high reproducibility and the greatest discriminatory power, yielding 24 and 22-24 types, respectively.
- All tested methods could distinguish clonal types within epidemiologically related isolates from a single family.
Conclusions:
- REA and ribotyping are the most effective methods for differentiating Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans strains due to their high discriminatory potential and reproducibility.
- These DNA-based methods are essential for accurate epidemiological studies of periodontitis-associated pathogens.
- The findings highlight the genetic heterogeneity within the Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans species.