Objective

Some herpesviruses and particularly citomegalovirus (HCMV) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease as well as in the subgingival bacterial overgrowth. The objective of the study was to determine the frequency detection of HCMV and coinfection with periodontopathic bacteria in subjects with periodontitis.

Materials and methods

Periodontal clinical parameters and subgingival plaque samples were collected from 28 chronic periodontitis patients, five patients involved with aggressive periodontitis and 24 periodontally healthy subjects. Real time PCR was used to detect and quantify the number of viral copies (copies/μL) of HCMV. Bacterial culture was used to detect P. gingivalis, T. forsythia, A. actinomycetemcomitans and Gram negative enteric rods. Differences between groups were established with the t Student and Chi2 test (P ≤ 0.05).

Results

The detection frequency of HCMV was 60% in periodontitis contrasting with 4.1% in the control group (P < 0.05). The mean number of viral copies of HCMV was 635.6 copies/μL in periodontitis vs 6.45E-004 copies/mL in non periodontitis subjects. Periodontal disease clinical parameters (BOP, CAL, PD) were increased among HCMV+ patients as well as the infection by P. gingivalis and T. forsythia.

Conclusions

The subgingival detection of HCMV was associated with increased periodontal disease severity and also co-infection between HCMV and P. gingivalis and T. forsythia could be an important pathogenic factor.

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