Abstract Objective This study aimed to clarify the association between oral human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and periodontitis in Japanese adults. Methodology In total, 190 patients (75 men and 115 women; mean age, 70.2 years) who visited Hiroshima University Hospital between March 2018 and May 2020 were included. Oral rinse samples were taken to examine the presence of HCMV DNA using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). P. gingivalis was detected by semi-quantitative PCR analysis. Results HCMV DNA was present in nine of 190 patients (4.7%). There were significant associations between HCMV presence and the presence of ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with bleeding on probing (BOP) (P<0.01) and ≥6-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.01). However, no significant relationship was observed between HCMV presence and periodontal epithelial surface area scores. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the presence of ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP was significantly associated with HCMV (odds ratio, 14.4; P=0.01). Propensity score matching was performed between patients presenting ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (i.e., active periodontitis) and patients without ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP; 62 matched pairs were generated. Patients who had ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP showed a higher rate of HCMV presence (9.7%) than those who lacked ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (0.0%). There was a significant relationship between HCMV presence and ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.03). A significant relationship was found between HCMV/P. gingivalis DNA presence and ≥4-mm-deep periodontal pockets with BOP (P=0.03). Conclusions Coinfection of oral HCMV and P. gingivalis was significantly associated with active periodontitis. Moreover, interactions between oral HCMV and P. gingivalis may be related to the severity of periodontal disease.

Abstract Objective The objective of this study was to clarify differences in bacterial accumulation between gastrointestinal cancer patients who underwent severely invasive surgery and those who underwent minimally invasive surgery. Material and Methods We performed a preliminary investigation of gastrointestinal cancer patients who were treated at the Department of Surgery, Takarazuka Municipal Hospital, from 2015 to 2017 (n=71; 42 laparoscopic surgery, 29 open surgery) to determine changes in bacterial numbers at different sites of the oral cavity (tongue dorsum, gingiva of upper anterior teeth, palatoglossal arch), as well as mouth dryness and tongue coating indices. Specifically, patients received professional tooth cleaning (PTC), scaling, tongue cleaning, and self-care instruction regarding tooth brushing from a dental hygienist a day before the operation. Professional oral health care was also performed by a dental hygienist two and seven days after surgery. Oral bacteria numbers were determined using a bacterial counter with a dielectrophoretic impedance measurement method. Results The number of bacteria at all three examined sites were significantly higher in the open surgery group when compared to the laparoscopic surgery group on the second postoperative day. Relevantly, bacterial count in samples from the gingiva of the upper anterior teeth remained greater seven days after the operation in patients who underwent open surgery. Furthermore, the dry mouth index level was higher in the open surgery group when compared to the laparoscopic surgery group on postoperative days 2 and 7. Conclusions Even with regular oral health care, bacterial numbers remained high in the upper incisor tooth gingiva in gastrointestinal cancer patients who received open surgery. Additional procedures are likely needed to effectively reduce the number of bacteria in the gingival area associated with the upper anterior teeth.

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of this study was to clarify differences regarding HPV16 infection and gene amplification between the oral cavity and oropharynx in healthy individuals. Material and Methods The subjects were 94 healthy asymptomatic individuals (41 males, 53 females; mean age 58.6 years, range 16-97 years) who visited the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Reconstructive Surgery of the Hiroshima University Hospital from 2014 to 2015. Oral epithelial cells were collected from oral rinse and pharynx gargle samples and placed in saline. The human endogenous retrovirus gene ERV3-1 was used as a reference to estimate the number of human cells in each sample. DNA samples were extracted from approximately 10,000 human cells and tested for HPV16 DNA by PCR using a type-specific primer. Similarly, we analyzed the HPV16 viral copy number in HPV16-positive cases using real-time PCR to examine genomic amplification. Results The percentage of HPV16-positive cases was higher in the gargle (28.7%) as compared to the rinse (16.0%) samples. In the oral rinse samples, males (26.8%) showed a significantly higher rate of HPV16 than females (7.5%) (P=0.021). Importantly, in older subjects (aged 60-89 years), gargle samples showed a significantly higher rate of HPV16 (33.3%) than oral rinse samples (13.7%) (P=0.034). The average number of viral copies was approximately 8 times higher in the gargle than in the oral rinse samples (0.16±0.27 vs. 1.35±1.26 copy numbers per cell), a significant difference (P<0.001). Conclusion Our findings suggest that the oropharynx is more susceptible to HPV16 infection as compared to the oral cavity, while HPV16 gene amplification is also more commonly found in the oropharynx.