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Pre-Diagnostic Saliva Microbiota of School-Aged Children Who Developed Type 1 Diabetes or Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

Laura Räisänen1,2,3, Nitin Agrawal3,4, Binu Mathew3

  • 1Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology (MET), Tampere University, 33100 Tampere, Finland.

International Journal of Molecular Sciences
|May 13, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Saliva microbiota composition did not predict pediatric type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease. However, a specific metabolic pathway was altered before type 1 diabetes onset, suggesting functional analysis may reveal future biomarkers.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiome Research
  • Pediatric Autoimmune Diseases
  • Metabolic Pathway Analysis

Background:

  • Altered gut microbiota is linked to pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
  • The causal role of microbiota in these conditions remains unclear.
  • Identifying pre-diagnostic biomarkers is crucial for early intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate saliva microbiota as potential pre-diagnostic biomarkers for pediatric T1D and IBD.
  • To compare microbiota composition and diversity in children who later developed T1D or IBD versus controls.

Main Methods:

  • Nested case-control study design.
  • Analysis of saliva microbiota composition and diversity in children who developed T1D (n=52), IBD (n=21), and matched controls (n=79).
  • Comparison of pre-diagnostic samples (T1D: n=27, IBD: n=14) with controls.

Main Results:

  • No significant differences in alpha- and beta-diversity of saliva microbiota were observed between pre-T1D/IBD children and controls.
  • Specific bacterial genera (e.g., higher *Abiotrophia*, lower *Veillonella*) showed altered relative abundance in pre-T1D children.
  • The succinate fermentation pathway (PWY-5677) was significantly lower in pre-T1D samples within two years of diagnosis (q=0.034).

Conclusions:

  • Saliva microbiota diversity and composition are not reliable predictors for pediatric T1D or IBD.
  • The identified alterations in the succinate fermentation pathway suggest a potential functional biomarker for T1D.
  • Investigating microbial metabolic pathways may offer a more promising avenue for discovering autoimmune disease biomarkers.

Keywords:
Crohn’s diseaseautoimmune diseasemicrobiomepediatricrisk factorsulcerative colitis

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