The effects of family, dentition, and dental caries on the salivary microbiome

• Published in: Annals of epidemiology 2016-05, Vol.26 (5), p.348-354
• Main Authors: Foxman, Betsy, PhD, Luo, Ting, MPH, Srinivasan, Usha, PhD, Ramadugu, Kirtana, BS, Wen, Ai, PhD, Goldberg, Deborah, PhD, Shedden, Kerby, PhD, Crout, Richard, DMD, PhD, McNeil, Daniel W., PhD, Weyant, Robert, DMD, DrPh, Marazita, Mary L., PhD
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aging - physiology; Appalachian Region - epidemiology; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Dental caries; Dental Caries - epidemiology; Dental Caries - genetics; Dentition; Family; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease - epidemiology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Microbiota - genetics; Microbiota - physiology; Middle Aged; Oral Health; Risk Factors; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S - genetics; Saliva - microbiology; Salivary Glands - microbiology; Salivary microbiome; Sampling Studies; Specimen Handling
• ISSN: 1047-2797; 1873-2585
• DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2016.03.006

Abstract Purpose Family members share genes, environment, and microbial communities. If there is a strong effect of family on the salivary microbiota, controlling for family will enhance identification of microbial communities associated with cariogenesis. The present study was designed to assess the similarity of the salivary microbiome among families and the association between the salivary microbiome and dental decay taking age into account. Methods We selected families ( n  = 49) participating in the cohort study of oral health conducted by the Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia. All families where at least two children and at least one parent gave a saliva sample ( n  = 173) were included. Saliva samples were collected at least 1 hour after eating or drinking. After DNA extraction, the V6 region of the 16s rRNA gene was sequenced. Paired ends were joined using fast length adjustment of short reads, sequences were demultiplexed and filtered using Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology 1.9.0, and taxonomy was assigned using the Ribosomal Database Project (RDP; http://rdp.cme.msu.edu/ ) classifier and sequences aligned with the CORE database using PyNAST. Results The salivary microbiome changed with age and was more similar within families than between families. There was no difference in the diversity of the salivary microbiome by dental decay. After taking into account age and family, signals of dental decay were weak in the saliva, whether examined at the phyla, genus, or operational taxonomic level. Conclusions The salivary microbiome does not appear to be a good indicator of dental caries.