Background: Polymorphisms in FcgammaR have been associated with different forms of periodontitis. This study determined the frequency of FcgammaRIIa and FcgammaRIIIb alleles/genotypes in patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP).
Methods: Thirty-one GAgP and 49 periodontally healthy Brazilian subjects participated in the study. Full-mouth periodontal examinations were carried out, and mouthwash samples were collected for human DNA isolation. FcgammaR genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction and hybridization with allele-specific oligonucleotide probes. Significant differences between groups were sought by Mann-Whitney, chi2, and Fisher exact tests and configural frequency analysis.
Results: FcgammaRIIa-H131 (53.8%) and FcgammaRIIIb-NA1 (75%) were the most prevalent alleles in this sample population. A significant overrepresentation of FcgammaRIIIb-NA2 was observed in the GAgP group, whereas FcgammaRIIIb-NA1 was detected more often in healthy individuals (odds ratio, 32.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 10.6 to 99.8; P<0.001). No significant differences in the distribution of the FcgammaRIIa genotypes were observed between the groups. The prevalence of FcgammaRIIIb-NA2/NA2 was higher in GAgP patients, whereas FcgammaRIIIb-NA1/NA1 was predominant in the healthy group (chi2=45.1; P<0.001). The combination of the genotypes FcgammaRIIIb-NA2/NA2 plus FcgammaRIIa-H/H131 was observed more frequently in GAgP subjects than expected from marginal frequencies (chi2=12.5; P<0.001).
Conclusions: The data suggest that the FcgammaRIIIb-NA2 allele and/or FcgammaRIIIb-NA2/NA2 genotype and the composite genotype FcgammaRIIIb-NA2/NA2 plus FcgammaRIIa-H/H131 may be associated with GAgP, whereas FcgammaRIIIb-NA1 and/or FcgammaRIIIb-NA1/NA1 may be related to periodontal health in this sample of the Brazilian population.