Characterization of oral microbiome alterations in thalassemia patients using 16S rRNA gene sequencing

This study investigates the composition of the oral microbiota in thalassemia patients and compares it with healthy individuals from Saudi Arabia. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder characterized by reduced or absent production of globin chains, resulting in hypochromic microcytic anemia and multiple complications, such as iron overload resulting from frequent blood transfusions.

Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, 28 saliva samples (14 thalassemia patients and 14 healthy controls) were analyzed to assess changes in the richness and diversity of the oral microbiota.

Taxonomic analysis demonstrated nominal differences between the two groups, with notable variations in the abundance of several bacterial species. All taxa showing differential abundance belonged to two phyla-Firmicutes and Bacteroidota; including taxa such as Prevotella intermedia, Eubacterium sulci, and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Although several taxa showed nominal differences based on raw p-values, none remained statistically significant after Benjamini-Hochberg false discovery rate (FDR) correction. Thalassemia patients exhibited a nominal reduction in the relative abundance of bacteria such as Prevotella.

Overall, this study suggests possible alterations in the oral microbiome associated with thalassemia; however, these findings require validation in larger cohorts with comprehensive clinical and oral health data.