Abstract
BackgroundAggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is the etiological agent of periodontitis, and there is a strong association between clone JP2 and aggressive periodontitis in adolescents of African descent. The JP2 clone has an approximately 530-bp deletion (∆530) in the promoter region of the lkt/ltx gene, which encodes leukotoxin, and this clone has high leukotoxic activity. Therefore, this clone is very important in aggressive periodontitis. To diagnose this disease, culture methods and conventional PCR techniques are used. However, quantitative detection based on qPCR for the JP2 clone has not been developed due to genetic difficulties. In this study, we developed a qPCR-based quantification method specific to the JP2 clone.MethodsBased on our analysis of the DNA sequence of the lkt/ltx gene and its flanking region, we designed a reverse primer specific for the ∆530 deletion border sequence and developed a JP2-specific PCR-based quantification method using this primer. We also analyzed the DNA sequence of the ∆530 locus and found it to be highly conserved (97–100%) among 17 non-JP2 strains. Using the ∆530 locus, we designed a qPCR primer–probe set specific to non-JP2 clones. Next, we determined the numbers of JP2 and non-JP2 clone cells in the periodontal pockets of patients with aggressive periodontitis.ResultsThe JP2-specific primers specifically amplified the genomic DNA of the A. actinomycetemcomitans JP2 clone and did not react with other bacterial DNA, whereas the non-JP2 specific primers reacted only with A. actinomycetemcomitans non-JP2 clones. Samples from the 88 periodontal sites in the 11 patients with aggressive periodontitis were analyzed. The bacterial cell numbers in 88 periodontal sites ranged from 0 to 4.8 × 108 (mean 1.28 × 107) for JP2 clones and from 0 to 1.6 × 106 for non-JP2 clones (mean 1.84 × 105). There were significant differences in the JP2 cell number between a clinical attachment level (CAL) ≤6 mm and a level ≥7 mm (p < 0.01). Our new qPCR-based JP2- and non-JP2-specific quantitative detection assay is applicable to the diagnosis of aggressive periodontitis with A. actinomycetemcomitans.ConclusionsWe successfully developed a quantitative and discriminative PCR-based method for the detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans JP2 and non-JP2 clones. This technique will contribute to future analyses of the quantitative relationship between this organism and aggressive periodontitis.
Highlights
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is the etiological agent of periodontitis, and there is a strong association between clone JP2 and aggressive periodontitis in adolescents of African descent
A. actinomycetemcomitans isolated from aggressive periodontitis in adolescents of African descent living in different parts of the world are genetically homogeneous and belong to a single clone called JP2 [11,12,13,14,15]
The JP2-specific primers amplified the genomic DNA of the A. actinomycetemcomitans JP2 clone and did not react with other bacterial DNA, whereas the non-JP2 specific primers reacted only with A. actinomycetemcomitans non-JP2 clones (Tables 2 and Additional file 2: Table S1)
Summary
Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans is the etiological agent of periodontitis, and there is a strong association between clone JP2 and aggressive periodontitis in adolescents of African descent. The highly leukotoxic JP2 clone of A. actinomycetemcomitans serotype b is characterized by a 530-bp deletion (Δ530) in the promoter region of the lkt/ltx gene operon, which encodes the leukotoxin, resulting in increased leukotoxin production [17,18,19,20]. This clone shows pronounced racial tropism, as it has been isolated almost exclusively from adolescent periodontitis patients of West and Northwest African descent [14,18]. Haubek et al reported that the JP2 clone is an important etiological agent in the initiation of periodontal attachment loss in adolescents [8,21,22]
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