Investigation and quantification of key periodontal pathogens in patients with type 2 diabetes

Field CA, Gidley MD, Preshaw PM, Jakubovics N. Investigation and quantification of key periodontal pathogens in patients with type 2 diabetes. J Periodont Res 2012; 47: 470–478. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S Background and Objective: Diabetes is a recognized risk factor for periodontitis. There are conflicting data regarding whether healthy diabetic patients or diabetic patients with chronic periodontitis have an altered subgingival microbiota compared with nondiabetic individuals. The aim of the present study was to detect quantitative differences in selected periodontopathogens in the subgingival plaque of diabetic patients using TaqMan quantitative PCR. Material and Methods: Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with (n = 9) or without chronic periodontal disease (n = 15) were recruited and matched to nondiabetic control subjects (n = 12 periodontally healthy, n = 12 chronic periodontitis). Subgingival plaque samples were collected from deep (> 4 mm probing depth) and shallow sites (≤ 3 mm probing depth) using paper points, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis were quantified. Results: Forty‐eight subjects (69 samples) were recruited. Marked differences were seen in the levels of all three bacterial species, relative to the total bacterial population, according to periodontal health status. Using real‐time quantitative PCR, bacterial counts for P. gingivalis were significantly higher in deep pockets of diabetic and nondiabetic subjects compared with periodontally healthy subjects (p 0.05). F. nucleatum was abundant in all groups, with no clear significant differences between groups. P. gingivalis was found in higher quantities in periodontitis than in periodontally healthy subjects (p