A distinctive subgingival microbiome in patients with periodontitis and Alzheimer's disease compared with cognitively unimpaired periodontitis patients

Abstract

Aim: Periodontitis is caused by dysbiosis of oral microbes and is associated with increased cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and recently, a potential functional link was proposed between oral microbes and AD. We compared the oral microbiomes of patients with or without AD to evaluate the association between oral microbes and AD in periodontitis.

Materials and methods: Periodontitis patients with AD (n = 15) and cognitively unimpaired periodontitis patients (CU) (n = 14) were recruited for this study. Each patient underwent an oral examination and neuropsychological evaluation. Buccal, supragingival and subgingival plaque samples were collected, and microbiomes were analysed by next-generation sequencing. Alpha diversity, beta diversity, linear discriminant analysis effect size, analysis of variance-like differential expression analysis and network analysis were used to compare group oral microbiomes.

Results: All 29 participants had moderate to severe periodontitis. Group buccal and supragingival samples were indistinguishable, but subgingival samples demonstrated significant alpha and beta diversity differences. Differential analysis showed subgingival samples of the AD group had higher prevalence of Atopobium rimae, Dialister pneumosintes, Olsenella sp. HMT 807, Saccharibacteria (TM7) sp. HMT 348 and several species of Prevotella than the CU group. Furthermore, subgingival microbiome network analysis revealed a distinct, closely connected network in the AD group comprised of various Prevotella spp. and several anaerobic bacteria.

Conclusions: A unique microbial composition was discovered in the subgingival region in the AD group. Specifically, potential periodontal pathogens were found to be more prevalent in the subgingival plaque samples of the AD group. These bacteria may possess a potential to worsen periodontitis and other systemic diseases. We recommend that AD patients receive regular, careful dental check-ups to ensure proper oral hygiene management.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; oral microbiome; periodontitis; subgingival plaque.