Association between the presence and genotype of and periodontitis.

Whether () infection is associated with periodontitis has been contested for decades. The relationship between genotypes and periodontitis has not been clarified either. The present study provides a novel perspective to better understand the role of in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. A total of 53 volunteers were recruited and divided into 3 groups in this cross-sectional study, namely the periodontally healthy group (15 participants), the stage I/II periodontitis group (20 participants) and the stage III/IV periodontitis group (18 participants). DNA from the subgingival plaque of all participants was extracted and PCR was performed using specific primers for the urease C gene and cytotoxin-associated gene A ()/vacuolating cytotoxin gene A () to detect the presence and genotype of . A χ test and one-way ANOVA were performed on the data. There was no significant difference in sex, age or body mass index between the groups. The detection rate of was 39.62% in the total population and increased with the deepening of probing depth and clinical attachment loss. There were significant differences in the detection rate of among the three groups, with 13.33, 40.00 and 61.11% in the periodontally healthy, stage I/II periodontitis and stage III/IV periodontitis groups, respectively (χ=8.760, P<0.001). The /s2m2 genotype was most commonly detected in the periodontally healthy group (100%). In the periodontitis group, /s1m2 was the most commonly detected genotype in the stage I/II periodontitis group (37.5%) and /s1m1 in the stage III/IV periodontitis group (36.3%). The results of the present study suggest that the detection rates and genotypes of in the subgingival plaque are associated with the status of periodontitis. /s1m1 and /s1m2 may be considered virulence markers of periodontitis. However, given the small sample size and lack of correlation analysis of the study, further larger scale and high-quality clinical trials are required to confirm these findings.