Root Canal Microbiome in Patients Undergoing Antineoplastic Therapy: A Next-generation Sequencing Study

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Genomics
• Oral Health

Background:

• Apical periodontitis affects both oncologic and healthy patients.
• Understanding the intracanal microbiome is crucial for treatment.
• Cancer patients may have altered immune responses impacting oral flora.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the intracanal microbiome composition in oncologic and healthy patients with apical periodontitis.
• To identify specific bacterial taxa associated with apical periodontitis in cancer patients.
• To utilize 16S rRNA gene sequencing for detailed microbial analysis.

Main Methods:

• Collected root canal samples from 46 patients (23 oncologic, 23 healthy) with apical periodontitis.
• Performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V3-V4 region) on extracted DNA.
• Analyzed data using QIIME2 and DADA2 for diversity and abundance comparisons.

Main Results:

• Oncologic patients exhibited significantly higher bacterial richness (p=0.01).
• No significant differences were observed in Shannon diversity or beta diversity between groups.
• Specific genera like Prevotella and Selenomonas were more abundant in oncologic patients.

Conclusions:

• The root canal microbiome in oncologic patients with apical periodontitis is largely similar to healthy controls.
• While species richness differs, overall bacterial diversity and community structure are comparable.
• Certain candidate endodontic pathogens may be more prevalent in oncologic individuals.