Profiling the Bacterial Microbiome Across Peri-Implant Conditions

Area of Science:

• Oral microbiology
• Periodontology
• Microbiome research

Background:

• The bacterial microbiome plays a critical role in maintaining peri-implant health.
• Alterations in the peri-implant microbiome are associated with inflammatory conditions like peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively characterize the bacterial microbiome in peri-implant health, peri-implant mucositis, and peri-implantitis.
• To identify key bacterial species and functional pathways associated with these conditions.

Main Methods:

• Re-analysis of 16S rRNA sequencing data from 15 studies (522 samples).
• Pre-processing using mothur, classification with HOMD database.
• Analysis of diversity, relative abundance, discriminant features (LEfSe), functional potential (PICRUSt2), co-occurrence networks, and dysbiosis index.

Main Results:

• Peri-implantitis exhibited higher bacterial diversity and richness compared to health and peri-mucositis.
• Distinct community structures and co-occurrence networks were observed for each condition.
• Key species identified: Rothia spp. and Veillonella parvula_dispar (health); Leptotrichia spp. and Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum (mucositis); Porphyromonas gingivalis, F. nucleatum subsp. vincentii, and Tannerella forsythia (peri-implantitis).
• Peri-implantitis showed enrichment in predicted pathogenic pathways and greater bacterial dysbiosis.

Conclusions:

• The peri-implant microbiome composition and function differ significantly across health, mucositis, and peri-implantitis.
• Specific bacterial species and dysbiotic microbial communities are strongly associated with peri-implantitis.
• These findings offer insights into the microbial drivers of peri-implant inflammation and destruction.