Association between Oral Status and Bacteria Detected in Atheromatous Plaques

Objectives: The aim of this study was to prove contemporaneous presence of periodontal pathogens in atheromatous plaques and in subgingival plaque from patients with atherosclerosis who underwent carotid endoarterectomy. Methods: 36 patients (34 males; mean 61,8 years; range: 48-75) were studied:18 were dentates and 18 edentulous. All underwent periodontal assessment consisting in measuring probing depth, clinical attachment loss, bleeding on probing, plaque index. The presence of 4 periodontal pathogens (P.intermedia, P.gingivalis, T.denticola, T.forsythensis) was assessed in each patient both in crevicular fluid and atheromatous plaques. Six paper points were placed into the deepest pockets of four teeth for 40 seconds. Paper points were then transferred to tubes containing sterile phosphate buffer saline. DNA extraction from each crevicular fluid and ateromatous plaque sample was performed to detect the presence of periodontal pathogens by PCR. Four species-specific pairs of primer targeted to the 16S rRNA gene were used. In each reaction DNA extracted by the following bacterial strains: T.denticola(ATCC 35405), P.intermedia(ATCC 15032), T. forsythensis(ATCC 43037), P.gingivalis(ATCC 33277) was used as controls. The amplification was analyzed by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis. Results: T.denticola, P.intermedia, P.gingivalis and T.forsythensis were detected respectively in 61,44,66,44% of dentate patients. Twenty-five percent (5 dentates and 4 edentulous) of all patients were positive for genomes of periodontal pathogens (P.intermedia, P.gingivalis and T.denticola) within the ateromatous plaques. Four dentate patients on five resulted positive for the same bacteria both in atheromatous plaques and in the pocket bone lesions. Conclusions: The present study shows that in patients with adult chronic periodontitis that undergo carotid endoarterectomy, P.intermedia, P.gingivalis and T.denticola genome can be detected both in periodontium and in carotid plaques. This stimulates the hypothesis of a bacterial colonization of atheromatous plaques from microrganisms responsible for periodontal diseases.