# Frequency of Fimbrial Gene Types I, Ib, and II in Clinical Strains of Porphyromonas gingivalis Characterized From Periodontitis Patients

## TL;DR

This study examines how common certain fimbrial genes are in Porphyromonas gingivalis bacteria from periodontitis patients, finding higher prevalence in advanced stages of the disease.

## Contribution

The study reports the frequency of fim gene types I, Ib, and II in P. gingivalis clinical isolates from different periodontitis stages.

## Key findings

- P. gingivalis was most prevalent in advanced periodontitis cases (93.3%).
- fim type I was most frequent in the most severe periodontitis group (78.5%).
- No fim types were detected in the earliest stage of periodontitis.

## Abstract

Objective

Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) is considered the predominant pathogen in association with different stages of periodontitis, and fim genes play a vital role in adherence and colonization. This study is thus aimed to detect the prevalence of P. gingivalis and the frequency of fim gene types among the clinical strains isolated from periodontitis patients.

Methods

Plaque samples (N = 45) were collected from patients with three different stages of periodontitis (n = 15 in each group). All the samples were inoculated onto sterile anaerobic blood agar and were processed anaerobically using a GasPak system at 37°C for five to seven days. Standard microbiological techniques were used to identify P. gingivalis. Genomic DNA was extracted, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out to detect the frequency of three fim gene types, using specific primers.

Results

P. gingivalis was more prevalent in Group III (93.3%), followed by 26.7% in Group II, and 13.3% in Group I. Maximum isolates were seen in the age group of 40-50, with no significance within the genders. fim type I was frequent in Group III (78.5% (n = 11)), followed by 0.25% (n = 1) under Group II, with no other fim types in the other groups.

Conclusion

Prevalence of P. gingivalis and frequency of fim genes, in association with its virulence, were observed. Periodical monitoring of such virulence genes would aid in the theranostic approach to combat the complications caused by P. gingivalis in periodontitis cases.