Racial Differences in the Oral Microbiome: Data from Low-Income Populations of African Ancestry and European Ancestry

Study information

Reviewed Marked as Reviewed by Fatima on 2022/08/9

study design

prospective cohort

Citation

PMID PubMed identifier for scientific articles.

31771977

DOI Digital object identifier for electronic documents.

10.1128/mSystems.00639-19

URI

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31771977/

Authors

Yang Y, Zheng W, Cai Q, Shrubsole MJ, Pei Z, Brucker R, Steinwandel M, Bordenstein SR, Li Z, Blot WJ, Shu XO, Long J

Journal

mSystems

Year

2019

Keywords:

oral microbiome, racial difference

Increasing evidence indicates the significant racial difference in gut, vaginal, and skin microbiomes. However, little is known regarding the racial difference in the oral microbiome. In this study, deep sequencing of 16S rRNA genes was utilized to assess the oral microbiome in mouth rinse samples of 1,058 African-Americans (AAs) and 558 European-Americans (EAs) from the Southern Community Cohort Study. Generally, AAs had a higher species richness than EAs, with P = 5.28 × 10-14 (Wilcoxon rank sum test) for Faith's phylogenetic diversity index. A significant difference in overall microbiome composition was observed between AAs and EAs, with P = 5.94 × 10-4 (MiRKAT) for the weighted UniFrac distance matrix. We also found 32 bacterial taxa showing a significant differential abundance or prevalence between the two racial groups at a Bonferroni-corrected P < 0.05 in linear or logistic regression analyses. Generally, AAs showed a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes and a lower abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes Interestingly, four periodontal pathogens, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Treponema denticola, and Filifactor alocis, were more prevalent among AAs than among EAs, with Bonferroni-corrected P values of 5.23 × 10-6, 4.47 × 10-6, 1.08 × 10-3, and 4.49 × 10-5, respectively. In addition, all of these 32 taxa were significantly correlated with the percentage of genetic African ancestry. These findings call for research to understand how the racial difference in oral microbiome influences the health disparity.IMPORTANCE In this systemic investigation of racial differences in the oral microbiome using a large data set, we disclosed the significant differences in the oral microbial richness/evenness, as well as in the overall microbial composition, between African-Americans and European-Americans. We also found multiple oral bacterial taxa, including several preidentified oral pathogens, showing a significant different abundance or prevalence between African-Americans and European-Americans. Furthermore, these taxa were consistently found to be associated with the percentage of genetic African ancestry. Our findings warrant further research to understand how the racial difference in the oral microbiome influences the health disparity.

Experiment 1

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Curated date: 2022/07/11

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Subjects

Location of subjects: United States of America

Host species Species from which microbiome was sampled. Contact us to have more species added.: Homo sapiens

Body site Anatomical site where microbial samples were extracted from according to the Uber Anatomy Ontology: Oral opening Mouth,Oral fissure,Oral orifice,Oral part of face,Oral opening,oral opening

Condition The experimental condition / phenotype studied according to the Experimental Factor Ontology: Ethnic group Ethnicity,race,Ethnic group,ethnic group

Group 0 name Corresponds to the control (unexposed) group for case-control studies: European Americans (EA)

Group 1 name Corresponds to the case (exposed) group for case-control studies: African Americans (AA)

Group 1 definition Diagnostic criteria applied to define the specific condition / phenotype represented in the case (exposed) group: Mouth rinse samples of 1,058 African Americans, with about 57% population with low SES of annual household income < $15,000.

Group 0 sample size Number of subjects in the control (unexposed) group: 558

Group 1 sample size Number of subjects in the case (exposed) group: 1058

Antibiotics exclusion Number of days without antibiotics usage (if applicable) and other antibiotics-related criteria used to exclude participants (if any): 12 Months

Lab analysis

Sequencing type: 16S

16S variable region One or more hypervariable region(s) of the bacterial 16S gene: -V4

Sequencing platform Manufacturer and experimental platform used for quantifying microbial abundance: Illumina

Statistical Analysis

Statistical test: Logistic Regression

Significance threshold p-value or FDR threshold used for differential abundance testing (if any): .05

MHT correction Have statistical tests be corrected for multiple hypothesis testing (MHT)?: Yes

Confounders controlled for Confounding factors that have been accounted for by stratification or model adjustment: age, alcohol drinking, body mass index, household income, sex, smoking status

Alpha Diversity

Richness Number of species: increased

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Source: Table 2; Figure 3

Description: TABLE 2 Significantly higher abundance of Bacteroidetes and lower abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes among African-Americans FIG 3 Thirteen common bacterial taxa showing a significant differential abundance between AAs and EAs in linear regression analyses.

Abundance in Group 1: increased abundance in African Americans (AA)

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Porphyromonadaceae
Porphyromonas
Prevotella denticola
Peptostreptococcaceae

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101

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Source: Table 2; Figure 3

Description: TABLE 2 Significantly higher abundance of Bacteroidetes and lower abundance of Actinobacteria and Firmicutes among African-Americans FIG 3 Thirteen common bacterial taxa showing a significant differential abundance between AAs and EAs in linear regression analyses.

Abundance in Group 1: decreased abundance in African Americans (AA)

NCBI	Quality Control	Links
Actinomycetota
Carnobacteriaceae
Granulicatella
Granulicatella adiacens
Micrococcaceae
Rothia
Rothia mucilaginosa
Streptococcus cristatus
Streptococcus sp. oral taxon 057

Revision editor(s): Kaluifeanyi101