Probe-specific DNA fingerprinting applied to the epidemiology of localized juvenile periodontitis.

Although Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans has been recognized as a primary etiological agent in localized juvenile periodontitis, questions remain concerning the source of infection, mode of transmission, and relative virulence of strains. DNA fingerprinting analysis, using a randomly cloned chromosomal DNA fragment as a probe, revealed that previously characterized strains of A. actinomycetemcomitans displayed significant restriction site heterogeneity which could be applied to the typing of clinical isolates of this bacterium such that individual strains or variants could be traced within subjects from localized juvenile periodontitis families. Hybridization data derived from an analysis of bacterial isolates obtained from families participating in an ongoing longitudinal study of the disease showed that a single individual could be infected with more than one strain or variant of A. actinomycetemcomitans and that various members of the same family could harbor different strains or variants of the bacterium. In several cases the clinical isolates were matched to characterized laboratory strains by comparing hybridization patterns generated by digestion of the DNA with several restriction enzymes in independent reactions. Thus, probe-specific DNA fingerprinting of A. actinomycetemcomitans will permit us to determine if particular strains or variants are frequently associated with sites of periodontal destruction. Attention could then be focused on determining the virulence properties of those strains or variants that have in vivo significance.