The detection of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia using an ELISA in an adolescent population with early periodontitis

The aim of the study was to compare the occurrence and levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, and P. intermedia in the subgingival plaque from sites with and without early periodontitis in adolescents using an ELISA. 47, 15- to 16-year-old adolescents (39 Indo-Pakistani, 8 white Caucasian) were examined for clinical attachment level, probing depth, supragingival plaque, subgingival calculus and bleeding on probing on the mesio-buccal and disto-buccal aspects of the 1st molars and the incisors. Based on the clinical data, 2 sites per-subject were selected for subgingival plaque sampling 3 weeks later: in 32 subjects with loss of attachment ≥1 mm, a diseased site (D) and a healthy comparison control site (C) were sampled; in 15 subjects in whom loss of attachment had not yet developed, 1 of the upper molar sites was selected, called the at-risk site (R), together with a C site. The presence and levels of A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, and P. intermedia were determined using an ELISA. The loss of attachment subgroup had significantly more pockets ≥4 mm, subgingival calculus and bleeding on probing (p0.05). Although there was a significantly higher prevalence and extent of loss of attachment ≥1 mm in the Indo-Pakistani subjects compared with the Caucasians (p