Quantitative Analysis of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis in Adolescents from Ghana

Sammanfattning: Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease associated with different bacterial species, including P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomintans. This study is based on a previous study where bacterial samples were collected from periodontal pockets on adolescents in Ghana. The objective was to quantitatively analyse the samples concerning A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis and to correlate them towards each other. Furthermore, A. actinomycetemcomitans was correlated against development of attachment loss. Out of 315 available samples from periodontally healthy adolescents, 162 were successfully analysed using qPCR. Excel and SPSS were used for statistical calculations and analyses. Medium levels (1 – 10 %) of A. actinomycetemcomitans indicated a significant higher risk (p = 0.005) for development of attachment loss compared to low levels (< 1 %). Also, a significant risk (p = 0.024) for development of attachment loss was found for levels over 1 % compared to levels lower than 1 % (including negative samples). Surprisingly, no significant higher risk was found when comparing A. actinomycetemcomitans negative samples with low, medium and high (> 10 %) bacterial proportions. No significant correlation (p = 0.144) was found between proportions of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis in the same sample. The concluding remarks are that A. actinomycetemcomitans detected in levels exceeding 1 %, particularly 1 – 10 %, are most associated with development of attachment loss. There is no significant negative correlation between high levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis in periodontal pockets before attachment loss can be detected.