Periodontal inflammatory and microbial profiles in healthy young African Americans and Caucasians.

Aim: This study aimed to compare microbial and inflammatory profiles in periodontally/systemically healthy African American (AA) and Caucasian (C) individuals. Materials and Methods: Thirty‐seven C and 46 AA aged from 5 to 25 years were evaluated regarding periodontal disease, caries, microbial subgingival profile via 16‐s sequencing, as well as salivary and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) inflammatory profile via multiplex assay. Results: Greater probing depth percentage was detected in AA (p =.0075), while a higher percentage of caries index (p =.0069) and decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT) index (p =.0089) was observed in C, after adjusting for number of teeth, sex and age. Salivary levels of IL‐6, IL‐8 and TNFα were higher for C, whereas GCF levels of eotaxin, IL‐12p40, IL‐12p70, IL‐2 and MIP‐1α were higher in AA (p <.05). Different microbial profiles were observed between the races (p =.02). AA presented higher abundance of periodontopathogens (such as Tanerella forsythia, Treponema denticola, Filifactor alocis, among others), and C presented more caries‐associated bacteria (such as Streptococcus mutans and Prevotella species). Bacillaceae and Lactobacillus species were associated with higher DMFT index, whereas Fusobacterium and Tanerella species with periodontal disease parameters. Conclusions: A different inflammatory and bacterial profile was observed between healthy AA and C, which may predispose these races to higher susceptibility to specific oral diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]