Abstract
Periodontitis, a complex chronic inflammatory disease caused by subgingival infection, is among the most prevalent microbial diseases in humans. Although traditional microbiological research on periodontitis has focused on putative bacteria such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, the herpes virus is proposed to be involved in the pathogenesis of periodontitis because bacterial etiology alone does not adequately explain various clinical aspects. In this study, we established for the first time, more Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA is found deeper in periodontal pockets of chronic periodontitis in Japanese patients. Subgingival samples were collected from 85 patients with chronic periodontitis having two periodontal sites with probing depths (PD) of ≤3 mm (shallow) or ≥5 mm (deep) and were subjected to a nested polymerase chain reaction. EBV DNA was more frequently detected in patients with deeper PD sites (66%) than in those with shallow PD sites (48%) or healthy controls (45%). Coexistence of EBV DNA and P. gingivalis was significantly higher in patients with deeper PD sites (40%) than in those with shallow PD sites (14%) or healthy controls (13%). Although no difference in clinical index for periodontitis, the odds ratio of EBV DNA in patients with deeper PD sites was 2.36, which was 2.07-fold higher than that in those with shallow PD sites. Interestingly, the odds of acquiring chronic periodontitis (PD ≥5 mm) were higher in the presence of both EBV DNA and P. gingivalis compared with either EBV DNA or P. gingivalis only. In addition, we also observed that EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER) in positive cells of human gingival tissues. These results would suggest that EBV DNA may serve as a pathogenic factor leading to chronic periodontitis among Japanese patients.
Highlights
Periodontitis is a complex chronic inflammatory disease that is among the most prevalent microbial diseases in the world [1,2]
Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) DNA occurred at significantly higher frequencies in deeper probing depths (PD) sites of patients with chronic periodontitis than in PD sites of healthy controls (P,0.05)
A number of putative bacteria are considered to be associated with chronic periodontitis, it has become increasingly clear that herpes viruses are involved in the etiology of several types of periodontitis
Summary
Periodontitis is a complex chronic inflammatory disease that is among the most prevalent microbial diseases in the world [1,2]. Periodontitis affects the periodontium, and severe periodontitis can result in its destruction, occasional pain, alveolar bone resorption, and eventual tooth loss. No single etiological agent has been identified, a number of putative bacteria are considered to be associated with the disease and are used as diagnostic markers [3,4]. Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia are considered markers of adult chronic periodontitis, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is associated with aggressive periodontitis characterized by rapid alveolar bone loss [3,4]. Several reports have demonstrated the absence of putative periodontal bacteria in patients with periodontal disease, and there was no significant difference in the prevalence of bacteria between healthy and diseased periodontium [6,7,8,9]. Herpes virus has been suggested to be involved in the etiology of periodontal diseases
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