Scaling and root planning, and locally delivered minocycline reduces the load of Prevotella intermedia in an interdependent pattern, correlating with symptomatic improvements of chronic periodontitis: a short-term randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND To evaluate the respective or combinatory efficacy of locally delivered 2% minocycline (MO), and scaling and root planning (SRP) by assessing both clinical parameters and the loads of four main periodontal pathogens in treating chronic periodontitis (CP). METHODS Seventy adults with CP were randomly assigned to the three treatment groups: 1) SRP alone; 2) MO alone; and 3) combinatory use of SRP and MO (SRP + MO). Before and 7 days after the treatments, we evaluated both clinical parameters (pocket depth [PD] and sulcus bleeding index [SBI]) and the gene load of four main periodontal pathogens (Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans [Aa], Fusobacterium nucleatum [Fn], Porphyromonas gingivalis [Pg], and Prevotella intermedia [Pi]). RESULTS The bacterial prevalence per patient was: Aa, 31.25%; Fn, 100%; Pg, 95.31%; and Pi, 98.44%. Seven days after treatment, the three treatments significantly reduced both PD and SBI, but not detection frequencies of the four pathogens. For PD, the reduction efficacy of SRP + MO was significantly higher than that of either MO or SRP. Only Pg responded significantly to SRP. Pg and Fn were significantly reduced in the presence of MO. Only SRP + MO showed a significant reduction effect on the gene load of Pi. The reduction of PD significantly correlated with the gene load of Pi (r=0.26; P=0.042) but not of the other bacteria. CONCLUSION SRP and MO reduced the load of Pi in an interdependent pattern, which correlated with symptomatic improvements of CP.