COMPARATIVE DETECTION FREQUENCY OF 6 PUTATIVE PERIODONTAL PATHOGENS IN SUDANESE AND NORWEGIAN ADULT PERIODONTITIS PATIENTS

TWENTY-FIVE SUDANESE AND 18 NORWEGIAN adult periodontitis patients wer e selected to participate in this study. The purpose was to compare cu ltivation results of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Cap nocytophaga species as well as various enteric rods in both population s. In addition, DNA probe analysis was used to identify P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, A, actinomycetemcomitans, F. nucleatum, and Bacteroide s forsythus in the Sudanese patients and results were compared with th ose obtained by cultivation. The paper point technique was used to sam ple 99 sites in the Sudanese group (4 paper points/site) and 119 sites in the Norwegian patients (3 paper points/site). In the Sudanese subj ects, the fourth paper point was used for the DNA probe analysis. The chi-square test and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to test fo r statistically significant differences between Sudanese and Norwegian cultivation results as well as between cultivation and DNA results in the Sudanese group. Cultivation results indicated that the Sudanese s ubjects had significantly lower prevalence of P. gingivalis, P. interm edia, and F. nucleatum (P < 0.01), significantly higher prevalence of Capnocytophaga species (P < 0.05), and similar prevalence of A. actino mycetemcomitans. Almost all Sudanese subjects tested positive for vari ous enteric rods, while none of the Norwegians did so. The extent to w hich unrestricted use of antibiotics and transport media influenced th e levels of enteric species is not known, however. In the Sudanese gro up, DNA results showed higher levels of P. gingivalis and P. intermedi a (P < 0.01), and F. nucleatum (P < 0.05), while lower levels of A. ac tinomycetemcomitans (P < 0.05), as compared to cultivation results. B. forsythus was detected by DNA probe analysis in 96% of the Sudanese p atients (57.6% of sites). Except for the high levels of enteric rods i n the Sudanese samples, the present investigation demonstrated that bo th patient populations harbored the species monitored in levels simila r to those commonly perceived among adult periodontitis patients in th e West.