{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T18:48:20Z","timestamp":1782326900363,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2000,6,1]],"date-time":"2000-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":959817600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Journal of Periodontology"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2000,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:bold>Background:<\/jats:bold> <jats:italic>Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> leukotoxin is thought to be an important virulence factor in the pathogenesis of localized juvenile and other forms of early\u2010onset periodontitis. Some highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> strains produce 10 to 20 times more leukotoxin than other minimally leukotoxic strains. The distribution, clonality, and intrafamilial transmission of highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> were examined in order to determine the importance of leukotoxin in the pathogenesis of periodontitis.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Methods:<\/jats:bold> The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to differentiate highly leukotoxic from minimally leukotoxic strains in examining 1,023 fresh <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> isolates and strains from our culture collection. These were obtained from 146 subjects including 71 with localized juvenile periodontitis (LJP), 4 with early\u2010onset periodontitis, 11 with post\u2010localized juvenile periodontitis, 41 with adult periodontitis, and 19 periodontally normal subjects. The arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction (AP\u2010PCR) analysis of 30 oral isolates from each of 25 subjects was used to determine the intraoral distribution of <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> clones. AP\u2010PCR was also used to examine the transmission of <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> in 30 members of 6 families. The clonality of 41 highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> strains was evaluated by both AP\u2010PCR and ribotyping.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:italic>Results:<\/jats:italic> Highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> was found only in subjects with localized juvenile and early\u2010onset periodontitis. Fifty\u2010five percent of the LJP subjects harbored highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> isolates. Seventy\u2010three percent of the <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> isolates in these subjects were highly leukotoxic. Highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> infected younger subjects (mean age 13.95 years, range 5 to 28 years) than minimally leukotoxic (mean age 35.47 years, range 6 to 65 years). Most subjects were infected with only one <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> genotype. However, PCR of whole dental plaques and subsequent analysis of up to 130 individual oral isolates suggested a possible shift in <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> over time in that a few subjects harbored both highly leukotoxic and minimally leukotoxic strains. AP\u2010PCR analysis was consistent with intrafamilial <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> transmission. Ribotyping and AP\u2010PCR analysis confirmed a previous report that highly leukotoxic <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic> consists of a single clonal type.<\/jats:p><jats:p><jats:bold>Conclusions:<\/jats:bold> This study suggests that localized juvenile and other forms of Actinobacillus\u2010associated periodontitis are primarily associated with the highly leukotoxic clone of <jats:italic>A. actinomycetemcomitans<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>J Periodontol 2000;71:912\u2010922.<\/jats:italic><\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1902\/jop.2000.71.6.912","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2005,2,2]],"date-time":"2005-02-02T06:33:12Z","timestamp":1107325992000},"page":"912-922","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":140,"title":["Evidence for the Role of Highly Leukotoxic <i>Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans<\/i> in the Pathogenesis of Localized Juvenile and Other Forms of Early\u2010Onset Periodontitis"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"71","author":[{"given":"Violet I.","family":"Haraszthy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Govind","family":"Hariharan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eduardo M.B.","family":"Tinoco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jose R.","family":"Cortelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward T.","family":"Lally","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elaine","family":"Davis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph J.","family":"Zambon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2000,6]]},"container-title":["Journal of Periodontology"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/aap.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1902\/jop.2000.71.6.912","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,19]],"date-time":"2025-10-19T09:28:32Z","timestamp":1760866112000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/aap.onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1902\/jop.2000.71.6.912"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2000,6]]},"references-count":0,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2000,6]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1902\/jop.2000.71.6.912"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1902\/jop.2000.71.6.912","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-3492","1943-3670"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-3492","type":"print"},{"value":"1943-3670","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2000,6]]}}}