Comparative analysis of subgingival microbiota in patients with mild, moderate, and severe chronic periodontitis

In this study, we explored the suspected pathogens of chronic periodontitis at different stages of occurrence and development. We collected 100 gingival crevicular fluid samples, 27, 27, and 26 from patients with mild, moderate, and severe chronic periodontitis, respectively, and 20 from healthy individuals. Pathogens were detected using a 16S rRNA metagenomic approach. Quantitative Insights in Microbial Ecology, Mothur, and other software were used to analyze the original data, draw relative abundance histograms and heat maps, and calculate flora abundance and diversity indexes. We identified 429 operational taxonomic units, covering 13 phyla, 20 classes, 32 orders, 66 families, and 123 genera from the four groups of samples. Each group showed microbial diversity, and the number of new species of bacterial flora in the gingival crevicular fluid samples gradually increased from the healthy to the severe chronic periodontitis group. There was a significant difference in the relative abundance of the core flora at the phylum, class, order, family, and genus classification levels. Our data indicated a certain correlation between the changes in the subgingival microbial structure and the occurrence and development of chronic periodontitis, which might be able to provide a reference for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of chronic periodontitis.