Pigmented-anaerobic bacteria associated with canine periodontitis
Introduction
Periodontal disease is a chronic, multi-factorial disease of the tissues supporting the teeth (Loesche and Grossman, 2001, Page and Houston, 1999). Both host and bacterial factors influence the course of disease. Much of the published data regarding the etiology of periodontitis comes from research on human disease. The primary periodontal pathogen in humans is P. gingivalis (Cutler et al., 1995, Lamont and Jenkinson, 1998, Page, 2000, Page and Houston, 1999). This organism appears to be transmitted by infected individuals and to colonize naïve individuals at a young age (Lamont and Jenkinson, 1998, Yang et al., 2002). The population of P. gingivalis begins to increase as an anaerobic environment is generated due to the oxygen scavenging activity of early subgingival colonizers and the effect of early oral diseases such as gingivitis. Once firmly established, the virulence factors expressed by P. gingivalis can take effect and lead to active disease (Cutler et al., 1995, Genco et al., 1999, Lamont and Jenkinson, 1998).
Periodontitis in companion animals is an almost identical disease to that in humans in terms of disease course and clinical presentation. It has been estimated that approximately 80% of dogs and cats demonstrate some degree of periodontal disease by 4 years of age (Harvey and Emily, 1993, Penman and Harvey, 1990). The accelerated disease progression observed in companion animals compared to humans may be due to a relative lack of routine dental care. By age five, the percentage of Porphyromonas spp. isolated from canine plaque is roughly six-fold higher than at 2 years of age, and correlates with disease severity (Allaker et al., 1997a; Isogai et al., 1999). Companion animal periodontitis is a serious infection that can have medical consequences such as anorexia and weight loss, chronic pain, sore or loose teeth, swollen gums, tooth decay, breakage or loss of teeth, and breakage of the maxillary or mandibular bone. If left untreated, periodontal bacteria may spread to other sites in the body and lead to renal, coronary, or hepatic diseases (DeBowes et al., 1996, Okuda et al., 2004, Scannapieco et al., 2003).
While the etiology of human periodontal disease has received much attention, there is a paucity of information available about the etiology of companion animal periodontitis. Black pigmenting anaerobic bacteria (BPAB) have been isolated from the periodontal pockets of dogs and cats (Allaker et al., 1997a; Boyce et al., 1995, Forsblom et al., 1997, Harvey et al., 1995, Harvey, 1998, Hennet and Harvey, 1991, Isogai et al., 1999), sheep (Dreyer and Basson, 1992, Duncan et al., 2003), and several wild animals (Fournier et al., 2001). Many of these isolates appear to be Porphyromonas spp. (Allaker et al., 1997a; Isogai et al., 1999). However, several differences between human and companion animal Porphyromonas isolates have been reported. Most notably, “human” P. gingivalis isolates are catalase-negative whereas, “veterinary” P. gingivalis isolates are catalase-positive (Harvey et al., 1995, Isogai et al., 1999). These catalase-positive P. gingivalis-like organisms may well represent isolates of Porphyromonas gulae (Fournier et al., 2001). In addition to the P. gingivalis-like organisms, other Porphyromonas spp. have been identified from companion animal periodontal pocket samples (Porphyromonas canoris, Porphyromonas cangingivalis, Porphyromonas canis, Porphyromonas cansulci, P. gingivicanis, and Porphyromonas crevioricanis) (Collins et al., 1994, Fournier et al., 2001, Hirasawa and Takada, 1994, Love et al., 1994).
To identify the relative frequencies of BPAB in companion animal periodontal disease, we conducted a study in dogs in which BPAB were isolated from the crevicular spaces of dogs with active periodontitis. The resulting bacterial isolates were genetically typed by 16S ribosomal RNA DNA sequence analysis. The three most frequently isolated BPAB were Porphyromonas salivosa, Porphyromonas denticanis (a new bacterial species), and P. gulae.
Section snippets
Study sites and inclusion criteria
Four geographically distinct sampling sites (The Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA), Dundee Animal Hospital (Dundee, IL), Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of the University of California at Davis (Davis, CA), and Pfizer Animal Health Terre Haute Research Facility (Terre Haute, IN)) were utilized in this study. In order to be included in the study, a dog was required to have at least one periodontal pocket greater than 3 mm. A total of 47 clinical samples
Bacterial isolation and identification
Thirty-three dogs from four different states were utilized to identify the predominant BPAB associated with periodontal disease. Each dog received a dental exam prior to inclusion in this study. A pocket depth of 3 mm or greater was required for inclusion. A total of 47 paper point samples from affected teeth were utilized to isolate 156 BPAB. An approximately 570-bp region of the 16S rRNA gene for each isolate was directly sequenced using universal PCR primers. The resulting DNA sequence was
Discussion
Oral disease has been identified as one of the most prevalent diseases of companion animals (Harvey, 1998). Companion animals accumulate plaque and tartar much more rapidly than humans. As this occurs, the progression from a healthy state to gingival inflammation to periodontitis also occurs more rapidly. The clinical features of periodontal disease in companion animals are very similar to that of humans, where destruction of the attachment tissue and alveolar bone are observed (Harvey, 1998,
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank J. David Haworth, Raja Krishnan, and David Lowery for critical review of this manuscript. We are grateful for the clinical skills and sample collection assistance of Cindy Charlier, Colin Harvey, Frank Verstraete, and Laura Winka.
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