Prevalence of 6 putative periodontal pathogens in subgingival plaque samples from Romanian adult periodontitis patients

The aim of the present study was to determine by standard cultivation procedures the detection frequencies of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Bacteroides forsythus, and Capnocytophaga species as well as various enteric rods in subgingival plaque samples form Romanian adult periodontitis patients. DNA probe analysis (Affirm(TM) DP Microbial Identification Test) was also used, parallel to cultivation, to identify P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans, and B. forsythus, in deep (greater than or equal to 6 mm) and intermediate (4-5 mm) pockets in some of the subjects investigated. Paper points were used to sample 86 deep pockets in 36 patients and 27 intermediate pockets in 9 of the 36 patients. The chi(2) test was used to test for significance of differences between results obtained by cultivation and DNA analysis in both intermediate and deep pockets. P. gingivalis was recovered in a high percentage of the patients (75.8%) and sites (63.6%) examined, followed by P. intermedia, F. nucleatum, and A. actinomycetemcomitans, respectively. Capnocytophaga species were present in almost all subjects. Enteric rods were recovered in 61.1% of the patients and 55.8% of the sites. Except for this high prevalence of enteric rods, the present group of patients had the periodontal species monitored in %s similar to those commonly perceived in the West. The Affirm(TM) DP Test and cultivation showed poor correlation in detecting P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans, and B. forsythus. The cultivation prevalence of P. gingivalis and P. intermedia in deer pockets was similar to their prevalence in intermediate ones. Overall, the prevalence of the periodontal pathogens investigated in the present Romanian periodontitis patients is similar to what has been revealed in matching Norwegian and other Western periodontitis patient populations. The high prevalence of enteric rods in the Romanian patients may have been an artifact resulting from prolonged transport of the samples in VMGA III.