Periodontitis prevalence and serum antibody reactivity to periodontal bacteria in primary Sjögren’s syndrome: a pilot study

Aims: The aims of this study were as follows: (i) To assessthe prevalence of periodontitis among patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome(pSS) and comparator groups of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) andosteoarthritis (OA). (ii) To perform a pilot study to compare serum antibodyresponses to 10 oral/periodontal bacteria in these patient groups and ahistorical comparator group of patients with periodontitis.

Materials and Methods: Standard clinical periodontal assessments were performedon 39 pSS, 36 RA and 23 OA patients and “In‐house” antibody ELISAs for serumantibodies against 10 oral/periodontal bacteria were performed in these groups.

Results: Forty‐six percent of the pSS group, 64% of the RA group and 48% of theOA group had moderate/severe periodontitis. These frequencies did not reachstatistical significance between groups. Raised antibody levels to Prevotelladenticola were found in the pSS, RA and periodontitis groups compared to the OAgroup. Significant between group differences were seen for Aggregatibacteractinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella intermedia and Campylobacter showae. None ofthese differences were specifically associated with pSS.

Conclusion: This study showed no increase in periodontitis in pSS patients.Although the P. denticola data are of interest, identifying bacterialtriggering factors for pSS will likely require alternative strategies includingmodern techniques such as microbiome analysis.