Correlation Between Fungal and Bacterial Populations in Periodontitis Through Targeted Sequencing: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Oral microbiology
• Periodontal disease research
• Fungal-bacterial interactions

Background:

• The oral microbiome is crucial for oral health and disease, with periodontitis affecting 40% of US adults.
• While bacterial pathogens in periodontitis are well-studied, the role of fungi remains unclear.
• Understanding the fungal contribution to periodontitis is essential for comprehensive oral health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between specific fungal species and periodontal pathogenic bacteria.
• To compare fungal and bacterial profiles in healthy, mild periodontitis, and severe periodontitis patients.
• To elucidate the role of the oral mycobiome in the context of periodontal disease.

Main Methods:

• Recruitment of human participants representing periodontal health and varying degrees of periodontitis.
• Collection and simultaneous sequencing of saliva samples for both the mycobiome (ITS sequencing) and microbiome (16s rRNA sequencing).
• Analysis of bacterial and fungal species diversity and correlation within different periodontal health states.

Main Results:

• Identification of 375 bacterial and 39 fungal species across all samples.
• Distinct bacterial clustering in healthy and mild periodontitis groups, with increased variability in severe periodontitis.
• A trend towards a negative correlation between Candida species and red complex bacteria in disease groups, though not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• This pilot study demonstrates the feasibility of simultaneous oral microbiome and mycobiome analysis.
• Findings suggest a potential inverse relationship between Candida species and key periodontal pathogens (red complex bacteria).
• Further research is warranted to confirm the role of fungi in the pathogenesis of periodontitis.