Microbial Diversity and Abundance Analysis of HCP
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Pilot Analysis of Microbial Diversity and Abundance in Human Chronic Periodontitis (HCP)
IRAS ID
107207
Contact name
E.L Boyle
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Research summary
Chronic periodontitis (CP) is a microbial-driven, inflammatory disease of the oral cavity that results in loss of bone supporting teeth. Research investigating the microbial species responsible for CP and failure of CP treatment has, in the past, focused on identifying organisms unique to disease that could either be cultured or identified by DNA marker sequences. Unfortunately, both of these strategies are biased. First, it is estimated that ~99% of microbes on Earth cannot be cultured; the oral cavity is no different. Secondly, marker gene sequences have always been obtained from the oral microbial community with a technique that has recently been shown to miss up to 50% of microbial diversity. A novel technique has been pioneered by one of the investigators that allows the harvesting of unique gene marker sequences without introducing significant experimental bias. A commercially sensitive project has used this technique and confirmed the statistically significant association of a variety of novel microbial taxa including Archaea and anaerobic eukaryotes as well as previously unidentified bacterial species. It is of course important to note that further work will be required to identify if the presence of these organisms is causative or simply correlative, but identifying disease associated species is the first step towards larger, long term projects that can identify the exact nature and activity of these organisms in the CP pocket.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/NW/0457
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jul 2013
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion