Entamoeba Gingivalis (Gros, 1849) and Trichomonas Tenax (Muller, 1773) Oral Infections in Patients from Baixada Fluminense, Province of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This paper describes the patterns of Entamoeba gingivalis and Trichomonas tenax oral infection within the Baixada Fluminense, neighborship of Rio de Janeiro city, province of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, assessed by the number of persons parasitized with or without periodontites, emphasizing the variables: gender, age, pH of the saliva, smoking habit and the total number of teeth in the mouth. The Baixada Fluminense is composed by 13 municipalities in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan region and is characterized by economic, social and educational substandards as well as inadequate sewerage, a result of the abandonment of regional public policy. Amoeba infection was common to all individuals, decreasing with age (r 2 =0.92, p<0.05) in healthy individuals but increasing with age in people with periodontal disease (r 2 =0.97, p<0.05). Additionally, there was co-infection by amoeba and flagellate protozoa in 51 individuals, and monoparasitism only by amoeba in the remaining 49 patients, 27 in the control group (without periodontitis) and 22 in the case group (with periodontitis). The prevalence of flagellate infection was 51.0% (51 out of the 100 individuals in both groups), unassociated with either group (χ2=0.2, p>0.05) or among genders (χ2= 1.2, p>0.05). The flagellate infection decreased with age in the control group and increased with age in those who were ill. Periodontitis is an important variable to consider in amoeba and flagellate infections as the risk factor increased 13x in older patients, in spite of the non-significant statistical result (p>0.05). Both infections emerged at neutral pH (5.5-7.0). While the healthy group cases of infection reached the prevalence peak at pH 6.5, the case group did so at 6.0, a insignificant difference. Considering only the T. tenax infection, the dental records of the control group registered low absence of teeth, a striking difference from group members with periodontal disease, each of which missed teeth ranging between one and all. Furthermore, E. gingivalis and T. tenax infections increased when there is tooth absence (E. gingivalis rs= 0.97; T. tenax rs= 0.99, p<0.05), indicating a positive correlation between tooth loss and both infections. Out of the 100 examined patients, eighteen (18%) were active smokers and, among them, eight (44%) were T. tenax positive. Although this represents only 8% of the total sample, all of the smokers belonged to the periodontal disease group.