<i>Porphyromonas gingivalis</i> in saliva associates with chronic and aggressive periodontitis

Abstract

<b>Objective</b>: To characterize the salivary microbiota of patients with aggressive periodontitis, patients with chronica periodontitis and orally healthy individuals. <b>Methods</b>: A total of 81 unstimulated saliva samples from aggressive periodontitis patients (n = 31), chronic periodontitis patients (n = 25), and orally healthy controls (n = 25) were examined. The V1-V3 region of the <i>16S rDNA</i> gene was sequenced with Illumina® MiSeq^TM, and sequences were annotated to the expanded Human Oral Microbiome Database (eHOMD). <b>Results</b>: A mean percentage of 97.6 (range: 89.8-99.7) of sequences could be identified at species level. Seven bacterial species, including <i>Porphyromonas gingivalis,</i> were identified with significantly higher relative abundance in saliva from aggressive periodontitis patients than in saliva from orally healthy controls. Salivary abundance of <i>P. gingivalis</i> could discriminate aggressive (AUC: 0.80, p = 0.0001) and chronic periodontitis (AUC: 0.72, p = 0.006) from healthy controls. Likewise, salivary presence of <i>P. gingivalis</i> was significantly associated with aggressive (p < 0.0001, RR: 8.1 (95% CI 2.1-31.2)) and chronic periodontitis (p = 0.002, RR: 6.5 (95% CI: 1.6-25.9)). <b>Conclusion</b>: Salivary presence and relative abundance of <i>P. gingivalis</i> associate with aggressive and chronic periodontitis, but do not discriminate between aggressive and chronic periodontitis.