Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
BMC Oral Health. 2022 May 9;22(1):170. doi: 10.1186/s12903-022-02175-5.
Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common infectious diseases in humans. Dental plaque is considered as a reservoir of this bacterium, which could play an important role in the development of gastrointestinal problems. Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori and its virulence factors in dental plaques in children with and without dental caries.
Among children aged 6 to 12 years, a total of 72 children were enrolled in the study, including 36 cases with total DMFT/dmft > 3 (case group) and 36 participants with total DMFT/dmft < 1 (control group). After removing supra-gingival plaques from the lower first permanent molar teeth, the samples were examined using PCR method for the presence of H. pylori and some of its virulence factors. Statistical analysis was performed using chi-square, Fisher' exact test, t-tests, and logistic regression.
Of 72 participants, 40 cases were male, and 32 cases were female. The minimum and maximum values of total DMFT/dmft indices were zero and ten, respectively, and the mean ± SD value of total DMFT/dmft was 2.78 ± 3.22. Except for vegetable consumption (p = 0.045), there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding gastrointestinal disorders, feeding methods in infancy (p = 0.058), frequency of daily brushing (p = 0.808), frequency of dental visits (p = 0.101), and history of dental scaling (p = 0.246) and professional topical fluoride therapy (p = 0.5). Out of 72 samples, 15 cases were positive for H. pylori DNA (20.8%), and there was no significant association between the presence of this bacterium in dental plaque and dental caries (p = 0.281). The frequency of virulence factors detected in 15 H. pylori cases was as follows: cagA in six cases (40.0%), vacAm1 in three cases (20.0%), and vacAs1 in one case (6.7%). There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the prevalence of virulence factors.
Our results indicate the presence of H. pylori along with some virulence factors in dental plaques as a reservoir of this bacterium in children in Iran. Although there was no significant association between this bacterium and the incidence of dental caries, dental health in children needs to be seriously taken into consideration.
幽门螺杆菌感染是人类最常见的传染病之一。牙菌斑被认为是这种细菌的储存库，它可能在胃肠道问题的发展中起重要作用。我们的目的是调查儿童牙菌斑中幽门螺杆菌及其毒力因子的流行情况，无论这些儿童是否患有龋齿。
在 6 至 12 岁的儿童中，共纳入 72 名儿童，其中 36 例总 DMFT/dmft>3（病例组），36 例参与者总 DMFT/dmft<1（对照组）。从下颌第一恒磨牙上清除龈上菌斑后，采用 PCR 法检测牙菌斑中是否存在幽门螺杆菌及其部分毒力因子。采用卡方检验、Fisher 确切概率法、t 检验和逻辑回归进行统计学分析。
72 名参与者中，男性 40 例，女性 32 例。总 DMFT/dmft 指数的最小值和最大值分别为 0 和 10，总 DMFT/dmft 的均值±标准差为 2.78±3.22。除蔬菜摄入（p=0.045）外，两组间在胃肠道疾病（p=0.058）、婴儿期喂养方式（p=0.058）、每日刷牙频率（p=0.808）、就诊频率（p=0.101）、牙垢清除史（p=0.246）和专业局部氟化物治疗（p=0.5）方面无显著差异。72 例样本中，15 例 H. pylori DNA 阳性（20.8%），牙菌斑中存在这种细菌与龋齿无显著相关性（p=0.281）。在 15 例 H. pylori 阳性病例中，检测到的毒力因子频率如下：cagA 6 例（40.0%）、vacAm1 3 例（20.0%）、vacAs1 1 例（6.7%）。两组间毒力因子的检出率无显著差异。
我们的结果表明，在伊朗儿童的牙菌斑中存在幽门螺杆菌及其一些毒力因子，作为这种细菌的储存库。尽管这种细菌与龋齿的发生没有显著相关性，但儿童的口腔健康仍需要认真考虑。
