163-169
Characterization of the salivary microbiome in healthy Thai children
Authors: Izumi Mashima, Citra F. Theodorea, Boonyanit Thaweboon, Sroisiri Thaweboon, Tippanart Vichayanrat, Frank A. Scannapieco, Futoshi Nakazawa
Number of views: 289
Objective: To investigate the composition of the salivary microbiome of 50 healthy Thai
children.
Methods: A total 76 provinces in Thailand are grouped into 5 geographical clusters based
on unique economics, foods and lifestyles. Geographical locations and the results of an oral
assessment were also considered. Genomic DNA was extracted from stimulated saliva samples.
Subsequently, amplicon libraries were prepared by 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library
Preparation. The amplicons were sequenced using an Illumina Miseq platform followed by
bioinformatics and statistical analyses.
Results: The correlation between oral hygiene status and caries history varied from r
2
=0.887
to r
2
=0.999 in the geographical groups, suggesting oral hygiene status a strong association
between caries history. Twenty taxonomic groups were found in all subjects and constituted
93.6%-96.5% of the microbiome. Of these, genus Veillonella and Prevotella showed significant
differences in their proportions between the geographical groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, the
proportion of Veillonella parvula, as well as Rothia aeria and Rothia dentocariosa tended to
increase with worse oral hygiene status, which was also related to higher dental caries history.
Conclusions: The differences in the salivary microbiome as related to geographic regions
suggest that environmental factors, which may include dietary habits, could influence the
predominant bacteria found in the mouth of Thai children, especially the genus Veillonella
and Prevotella. The ratio of Veillonella parvula, Rothia aeria and Rothia dentocariosa may be
indicators of worse oral hygiene status and future caries in this population.