Bee Pollen Diet Alters the Bacterial Flora and Antimicrobial Peptides in the Oral Cavities of Mice

Ariuntsetseg Khurelchuluun; Osamu Uehara; Durga Paudel; Tetsuro Morikawa; Yutaka Kawano; Mashu Sakata; Hiroshi Shibata; Koki Yoshida; Jun Sato; Hiroko Miura; Hiroki Nagayasu; Yoshihiro Abiko

doi:10.3390/foods10061282

Bee Pollen Diet Alters the Bacterial Flora and Antimicrobial Peptides in the Oral Cavities of Mice

Foods. 2021 Jun 4;10(6):1282. doi: 10.3390/foods10061282.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Oral Medicine and Pathology, Department of Human Biology and Pathophysiology, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 1757 Kanazawa, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido 061-0293, Japan.
² Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Human Biology and Pathophysiology, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 1757 Kanazawa, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido 061-0293, Japan.
³ Division of Disease Control and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Oral Growth and Development, School of Dentistry, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, 1757 Kanazawa, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido 061-0293, Japan.
⁴ Institute of Preventive Medical Science, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ainosato 2-5, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 002-8072, Japan.
⁵ Belle Coeur Institute, Utsukushigaoka 5-9-10-30, Kiyota-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido 004-0851, Japan.

Abstract

Background: Bee pollen (BP) has a broad range of beneficial effects on health. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of BP on the oral environment, including the microbiome and antimicrobial peptides.

Methods: C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into two groups: control and BP. The BP group was fed with a 5% BP diet for 1 month. Swabs from the oral and buccal mucosa and samples of the intestinal stool were collected. Genomic DNA was extracted and the microbiome was analyzed via 16S rRNA sequencing.

Results: BP inhibited the growth of P. gingivalis at a concentration of >2.5%. The metagenomic study showed that the abundance of genus Lactococcus was significantly elevated in the oral and intestinal microbiomes of the BP group when compared to those of the control group. Significant alterations in alpha and beta diversity were observed between the oral microbiomes of the two groups. The mRNA levels of beta-defensin-2 and -3 were significantly upregulated in the buccal mucosa of the BP group.

Conclusion: A BP diet may have a beneficial effect on oral and systemic health by modulating the bacterial flora and antimicrobial peptides of the oral cavity. Further investigations are needed to clarify how a BP diet affects overall human health.

Keywords: antimicrobial peptides; bee pollen; metagenomics; oral cavity.