DETECTION OF PORPHYROMONAS-GINGIVALIS FROM SALIVA BY PCR BY USING A SIMPLE SAMPLE-PROCESSING METHOD

Simple sample-processing methods for PCR detection of Porphyromonas gi ngivalis, a major pathogen causing adult periodontitis, from saliva we re studied. The ability to detect P. gingivalis from 118 salivary samp les by PCR after boiling and Chelex 100 processing was compared with b acterial culture, P. gingivalis was detected three times more often by PCR than by culture. Chelex 100 processing of saliva proved to be eff ective in preventing PCR inhibition and was applied to determine the o ccurrence of P. gingivalis in saliva samples from 263 Finnish subjects between 5 and 80 years of age. The occurrence of P. gingivalis increa sed with age, and it was detected by PCR in the saliva of 5.0% of subj ects between 5 and 10 years of age, 13.8% of subjects between 11 and 2 0 years of age, 13.4% of subjects between 21 and 30 years of age, and 63.3% of subjects between 31 and 80 years of age, The results indicate that P. gingivalis is a rare finding in saliva from periodontally hea lthy children and young adults but a frequent one in saliva from adult periodontitis patients.