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 TNF alpha were higher for C, whereas GCF levels of eotaxin, IL-12p40, IL-12p70, IL-2 and MIP-1 alpha 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.