Comparative Detection Frequency of 6 Putative Periodontal Pathogens in Sudanese and Norwegian Adult Periodontitis Patients

Abstract

T wenty‐five S udanese and 18 N orwegian adult periodontitis patients were selected to participate in this study. The purpose was to compare cultivation results of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum , and Capnocytophaga species as well as various enteric rods in both populations. In addition, DNA probe analysis was used to identify P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, A. actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum , and Bacteroides forsythus in the Sudanese patients and results were compared with those obtained by cultivation. The paper point technique was used to sample 99 sites in the Sudanese group (4 paper points/site) and 119 sites in the Norwegian patients (3 paper points/site). In the Sudanese subjects, the fourth paper point was used for the DNA probe analysis. The chi‐square test and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to test for statistically significant differences between Sudanese and Norwegian cultivation results as well as between cultivation and DNA results in the Sudanese group. Cultivation results indicated that the Sudanese subjects had significantly lower prevalence of P. gingivalis , P. intermedia , and F. nucleatum ( P < 0.01), significantly higher prevalence of Capnocytophaga species ( P < 0.05), and similar prevalence of A. actinomycetemcomitans . Almost all Sudanese subjects tested positive for various enteric rods, while none of the Norwegians did so. The extent to which unrestricted use of antibiotics and transport media influenced the levels of enteric species is not known, however. In the Sudanese group, DNA results showed higher levels of P. gingivalis and P. intermedia ( P < 0.01), and F. nucleatum ( P < 0.05), while lower levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans ( P < 0.05), as compared to cultivation results. B. forsythus was detected by DNA probe analysis in 96% of the Sudanese patients (57.6% of sites). Except for the high levels of enteric rods in the Sudanese samples, the present investigation demonstrated that both patient populations harbored the species monitored in levels similar to those commonly perceived among adult periodontitis patients in the West. J Periodontol 1994; 65:1046–1052 .