Occhiogrosso Leonardo, Capozza Paolo, Buonavoglia Alessio, Decaro Nicola, Trotta Adriana, Marin Claudia, Corrente Marialaura
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70010 Valenzano, Italy.
Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari, 70121 Bari, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2023 May 30;13(11):1814. doi: 10.3390/ani13111814.
Equine periodontal disease (EPD) is a painful oral inflammatory syndrome characterized by multifactorial pathogenesis. Although it is well known that bacterial proliferation and consequent gingivitis are caused by the decomposition process of food residues, in hypsodont species, the pathogenetic role and the different bacterial species involved in the progression of EPD must be fully clarified. This study aimed to investigate the association of bacteria, including the complex red bacteria (RCB), with EPD, and to evaluate possible EPD risk factors. Bacterial species, including , , (belonging to the RCB), , , and , were investigated in 125 oral swabs from healthy and EPD-affected horses using real-time multiplex PCR. Subsequently, possible risk factors (i.e., age, gender, and breed of the animals and type of feed used) were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. spp. and spp. were detected in a significantly higher proportion of horses affected by EPD than in healthy animals, although pathogens belonging to RCB were detected in low number of horses. At the same time, none of the investigated pathogens was significantly associated with a particular stage of disease severity. Horses aged older than 20 years were at higher risk of EPD. The high rate of coinfection, statistically associated with EPD, supports the hypothesis that EPD is a complex syndrome characterized by the possible simultaneous involvement of several pathogens and an increased risk depending on the animal's age. Constant oral hygiene is the best prevention to prevent and treat the disease, especially in old animals.
马牙周病（EPD）是一种多因素发病机制导致的疼痛性口腔炎症综合征。尽管众所周知，食物残渣的分解过程会导致细菌增殖并进而引发牙龈炎，但在高冠齿动物中，EPD进展过程中涉及的致病作用和不同细菌种类仍必须充分阐明。本研究旨在调查包括复合红色细菌（RCB）在内的细菌与EPD的关联，并评估可能的EPD风险因素。使用实时多重PCR对125份来自健康和患EPD马匹的口腔拭子中的细菌种类进行了调查，这些细菌种类包括 、 、 （属于RCB）、 、 和 。随后，使用单因素和多因素分析评估了可能的风险因素（即动物的年龄、性别、品种以及所用饲料类型）。与健康动物相比，在患EPD的马匹中检测到 菌属和 菌属的比例显著更高，尽管在少数马匹中检测到了属于RCB的病原体。同时，所调查的病原体均与疾病严重程度的特定阶段无显著关联。20岁以上的马匹患EPD的风险更高。与EPD具有统计学关联的高共感染率支持了这样一种假设，即EPD是一种复杂的综合征，其特征可能是几种病原体同时参与，并且患病风险因动物年龄而异。持续的口腔卫生是预防和治疗该疾病的最佳方法，尤其是对于老龄动物。
