Detection of putative periodontal pathogens in subgingival specimens of dogs

In this study, the presence of putative periodontal organisms, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythensis, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Dialister pneumosintes, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Campylobacter rectus, Eikenella corrodens and Treponema denticola were examined from subgingival samples of 40 dogs of different breeds with (25) and without (15) periodontitis, by using the PCR method. The PCR products of each species showed specific amplicons. Of the 25 dogs with periodontitis, P. gingivalis was detected in 16 (64%) samples, C. rectus in 9 (36%), A. actinomycetemcomitans in 6 (24%), P. intermedia in 5 (20%), T. forsythensis in 5 (20%), F. nucleatum in 4 (16%) and E. corrodens in 3 (12%). T. denticola and D. pneumosintes were not detected in clinical samples from dogs with periodontitis. Moreover, P. gingivalis was detected only in one (6.66%) crossbred dog without periodontitis. Our results show that these microorganisms are present in periodontal microbiota of dogs with periodontitits, and it is important to evaluate the role of these putative periodontal microorganisms play in the periodontitis in household pets particularly, dogs in ecologic and therapeutic terms, since these animals might acquire these periodontopahogens from their respective owners.