Abstract
We have measured the volatile fingerprints of four pathogenic oral bacteria connected to periodontal disease and dental abscess: Porphyromonas gingivalis (three separate strains), Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens and Tannerella forsythia. Volatile fingerprints were measured in vitro from the headspace gas of the bacteria cultured on agar. Concrete identification of new and previously reported bacterial volatiles were performed by a combination of solid phase microextraction (SPME) and offline gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). We also studied the effect of the reduced electric field strength (E/N) on the fragmentation patterns of bacterial volatiles in online proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS). We aimed to discover possible new biomarkers for the studied oral bacteria, as well as to validate the combination of GC–MS and PTR-MS for volatile analysis. Some of the most promising compounds produced include: 1-Methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (1MeTIQ), indole, and a cascade of sulphur compounds, such as methanethiol, dimethyl disulphide (DMDS) and dimethyl trisulphide (DMTS). We also found that several compounds, especially alcohols, aldehydes and esters, fragment significantly with the PTR-MS method, when high E/N values are used. We conclude that the studied oral bacteria can be separated by their volatile fingerprints in vitro, which could have importance in clinical and laboratory environments. In addition, using softer ionization conditions can improve the performance of the PTR-MS method in the volatile analysis of certain compounds.
Highlights
We have measured the volatile fingerprints of four pathogenic oral bacteria connected to periodontal disease and dental abscess: Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens and Tannerella forsythia
Our main goal was to investigate whether pathogenic oral bacteria can be distinguished by their volatile fingerprints, and how this information could be used in clinical diagnostics and microbiological work
In the second part of this study, we examined the volatile compounds produced by the same pathogenic oral bacteria using PTR-MS
Summary
We have measured the volatile fingerprints of four pathogenic oral bacteria connected to periodontal disease and dental abscess: Porphyromonas gingivalis (three separate strains), Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescens and Tannerella forsythia. In the case of the oral bacteria, volatile metabolites could be used to identify different species and their abundance in the oral cavity This could help to assess the severity of the oral infection and aid in the treatment of periodontal disease and dental abscesses. The studied anaerobic bacteria have been identified as some of the main culprits in the development of chronic periodontitis and include Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Prevotella nigrescence and Tannerella forsythia[2] All of these bacterial species have been connected to acute dental a bscess[3]. The analysis method used did not allow an unambiguous identification of all the measured VOCs. In the current study, we aimed to confirm the previously tentatively identified compounds and further investigate the volatile fingerprints of the oral bacteria by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Our main goal was to investigate whether pathogenic oral bacteria can be distinguished by their volatile fingerprints, and how this information could be used in clinical diagnostics and microbiological work
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
