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Background: Periodontitis is a common oral disease caused by host inflammatory response towards bacteria biofilm. The chronic activation of immune response leads to destruction of teeth supporting tissue, bone loss and tooth detachment. Different factors could be involved in the development and severity of the disease; among them the host genetic background should be considered., Objectives: In our study, we analysed haploblocks in a genomic region within major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus aimed at disclosing a possible correlation with the risk of periodontal disease in 602 adult subjects from North-East Italy., Results: The CTTAC haploblock (formed by LTA-rs2857709, LTA-rs2844484, LTA- rs2229094, LTA-rs2229092 and LTA-rs1041981 polymorphisms) correlated with protection towards periodontitis condition, after regression analysis including age and smoking status as covariates (P-value = 0.015)., Conclusion: Our results suggest that a haplotype within LTA gene (encoding for lymphotoxin alpha) is involved in the susceptibility towards chronic periodontitis., (© 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Periodontitis is a multifactorial disease that, if untreated, may cause teeth loss. Clinicians and researchers have reported that genetic factors influence the clinical manifestations of periodontal disease (PD), modulating both inflammation of the mucous membranes and loss of alveolar bone. The acquisition of new nowledge about genetic susceptibility of PD, would directly impact on prognosis and treatment of the disease. In addition, a better understanding of PD pathogenesis could improve the diagnostic tools for the prevention and therapies for modulation of immune responses and treatment of PD. In this study, we evaluated genetic polymorphisms of VRD, IL6 and IL10 and amounts of periodontal pathogens in Italian adults affected by PD. We included 326 cases classified according the criteria of the American Academy of Periodontology. No significant differences in bacterial load were found in patients carrying PD susceptibility alleles of IL6, IL10 and VDR genes. In conclusion, no interaction between genetic factors and amount of periodontal pathogens in periodontal pockets were found in PD patients.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the mean bacterial load of some periodontal pathogenic bacteria in Italian patients affected by chronic periodontitis. The sample consisted of 1,762 patients with a clinical diagnosis of chronic periodontitis based on the criteria of the American Academy of Periodontology sampled in the period 2013-2015; 1,323 patients were from Northern Italy, 317 from Central Italy and 122 from Southern Italy. Samples for microbiological analysis were collected from the four sites of the greatest probing depth in each patient and then processed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Periodontal pathogens have the following percentage respect to total bacteria load: Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans 0.1%, Campylobacter rectus 2%, Fusobacterium nucleatum 8%, Porphyromonas gingivalis 6%, Treponema denticola 2% and Tannerella forsythia 1.5%. There are significant differences in bacterial load among the different geographical areas both for the total bacterial and for the single species. The results of our study in this Italian population showed that a different geographic distribution exists among periodontal pathogens. We hypothesize that these differences in bacterial load could be related to genetic and environmental factors. Additional studies are necessary to confirm these data and to get more insight on additional factors, which may play a role in periodontal pathogens in different geographic areas.