Characterizing Microbiota from Sjögren's Syndrome Patients

Area of Science:

• Oral microbiology
• Immunology
• Microbiome research

Background:

• Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease characterized by salivary gland dysfunction.
• Alterations in the oral microbiome are increasingly linked to various systemic diseases.
• Understanding the oral microbial profile in SS is crucial for identifying potential diagnostic biomarkers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the oral microbiota composition between patients with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and healthy subjects (HS).
• To identify specific bacterial species that may serve as biomarkers for SS.
• To investigate the relationship between oral microbiota and clinical manifestations in SS.

Main Methods:

• Collected supragingival and subgingival biofilm samples, saliva, and oral tissue samples from SS patients and HS.
• Utilized checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization to analyze the abundance of 41 bacterial species.
• Employed Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests for statistical analysis of microbial and clinical data.

Main Results:

• Supragingival microbial load was significantly lower in SS patients compared to HS.
• Veillonella parvula, Fusobacterium nucleatum ss vincenti, and Propionibacterium acnes were significantly elevated in the supragingival microbiota of SS patients.
• SS patients exhibited distinct oral microbial profiles in saliva and oral tissues compared to HS, with higher levels of purple complex bacteria and increased prevalence of root caries and attachment loss.

Conclusions:

• The oral microbiome in SS patients with salivary hypofunction is reduced and under stress.
• Veillonella parvula shows potential as a unique microbial biomarker for Sjögren's syndrome.
• Saliva plays a significant role in controlling the intraoral biofilm.