Oral microbiome in chinese patients with aggressive periodontitis and their family members

Aim: To investigate the microbiome composition in Chinese patients with aggressive periodontitis (AgP), and to compare the similarity of bacterial profiles between AgP patients and their family members. Material and Methods: Pooled subgingival plaque and saliva samples were collected from 10 AgP patients and 10 of their first-degree blood relatives with chronic periodontitis. DNA amplicons of the V1-V3 hypervariable region of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene were generated, and were subjected to 454-pyrosequencing. Results: In subgingival plaque, the unweighted UniFrac distances between family members were significantly lower than those in unrelated participants (p = 0.039). Compared with the relatives, the microbiota of subgingival plaque and saliva from AgP patients revealed significantly lower taxonomic diversity. High relative abundance of Porphyromonas gingivalis (about 35.88%) was detected in subgingival plaque from AgP patients. The relative abundance of P. gingivalis and Red complex pathogens (P. gingivalis, Treponema denticola and Tannerella forsythia) in the subgingival plaque and saliva samples from the same individual were significantly correlated in AgP patients (rho= 0.687 and 0.678, respectively). Conclusions: There is a kinship in the phylogenetic architecture of microbiota among Chinese AgP patients and their family members. P. gingivalis might be a predominant pathogen in these Chinese AgP patients.