Investigation Of The Correlation Between Epstein-Barr Virus And Retrograde Pulpitis

Objective: To investigate the detection of different genotypes Epstein-Barr Virus(EBV) in saliva, subgingival sample and pulp tissue with retrograde pulpitis, and the relationship of EBV and the severity of periodontal lesions.Methods: The patients were examined and recorded clinical indicators of gingival index (GI), periodontal attachment loss (AL), pocket depth (PD), bleeding on probing (BOP) and tooth mobility. The patients were divided into two groups according to the inclusion criteria:⑴the patients with chronic pulptitis;⑵the patients with retrograde pulpitis. Each group had 30 patients. 30 healthy subjects were to be control. The samples of saliva, subgingiva and pulp tissue were collected from patients and healthy subjects. The nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) with specific primers was used to detect EBV-1 or EBV-2. Results: 13(43.33%)salivary samples of the patient with retrograde pulpitis were detected EBV-1, with a significant difference compared with chronic pulpitis patients(10%, P < 0.01) and healthy subjects (13.33%, P < 0.01). The positive rates of EBV and EBV-1 detected in subgingival samples from the patients with retrograde pulpitis were 56.67%(17/30) and 50%(15/30), respectively, significantly higher than those of chronic pulpitis patients and healthy subjects (P<0.01). The EBV and EBV-1 were detected in 43.33%(13/30) and 36.67%(11/30) of pulp tissue samples from the patients with retrograde pulpitis, but not in any of the healthy pulp controls(P < 0.01). The co-infection of EBV-1 and EBV-2 in both the subgingival and pulp tissue samples was detected in two patients with retrograde pulpitis. Infection of EBV did not correlate with GI , AL, PD and BOP (P>0.05).Conclusion: EBV may be related to retrograde pulpitis. Infection of EBV may not correlate directly with the severity of periodontal lesion.