Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Dept. of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.

2 Student Research Committee, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

3 Dept. of Social Medicine, Dept. of Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.

4 Proteomics Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

5 Dept. of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Fars, Iran.

6 Dept. of Immunology, School of Medicine, Dezful University of Medical Sciences, Dezful, Khuzestan, Iran.

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Periodontal diseases are complex oral diseases characterized by bacterial-induced inflammatory destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) is a common gram-negative anaerobic oral bacteria strongly associated with periodontal disease.Purpose: The present study was conducted to estimate prevalence of P. gingivalis in patients with periodontal diseases by using meta-analysis method.Martials and Method: Different databases including PubMed, EmBase, Scopus, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify original English-language studies addressing prevalence of P. gingivalis in periodontal diseases up to December 2014. The random effects model was applied in the meta-analysis and the heterogeneity between studies was assessed using a Cochran test and the I2 index. Funnel plots and Egger test were used to examine publication bias. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 12.Results: Forty-two eligible studies published during 1993- 2016 were selected for meta-analysis. Considering all the included studies, the total sample size was 5,884 individuals containing 2,576 healthy people with a mean age of 37.21±7.45 years and 3,308 periodontal patients with a mean age of 44.16±8.35 years. Overall, the prevalence of P. gingivalis was 78% [95% CI: 74-81] in periodontal diseases group and 34% [95% CI: 26-41] in healthy individuals. There was a significantly higher prevalence of P.gingivalis in individuals with periodontal diseases compared to healthy subjects [78% versus 34%, respectively].Conclusion: This study indicates that P. gingivalis is highly present in subjects with periodontal diseases and it also appears in periodontally healthy people, although to a lesser extent. Thus, the presence of P. gingivalis increases the chance of periodontal disease and it can be considered as a main potential risk factor.Key Words Porphyromonas gingivalis; Periodontal diseases; Chronic periodontitis; Aggressive periodontitis; Gingivitis;