Evidence and Therapeutic Perspectives in the Relationship between the Oral Microbiome and Alzheimer's Disease: A Systematic Review

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 24;18(21):11157. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111157.

Abstract

This review aims to clarify the nature of the link between Alzheimer's disease and the oral microbiome on an epidemiological and pathophysiological level, as well as to highlight new therapeutic perspectives that contribute to the management of this disease. We performed a systematic review, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews checklist, from January 2000 to July 2021. The terms "plaque," "saliva," and "mouth" were associated with the search term "oral diseases" and used in combination with the Boolean operator "AND"/"OR". We included experimental or clinical studies and excluded conferences, abstracts, reviews, and editorials. A total of 27 articles were selected. Evidence for the impact of the oral microbiome on the pathophysiological and immunoinflammatory mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease is accumulating. The impact of the oral microbiome on the development of AD opens the door to complementary therapies such as phototherapy and/or the use of prebiotic compounds and probiotic strains for global or targeted modulation of the oral microbiome in order to have a favourable influence on the evolution of this pathology in the future.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; mental disorders; oral microbiome; oral microbiota.

Publication types

  • Review
  • Systematic Review

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease* / therapy
  • Humans
  • Microbiota*
  • Mouth Diseases* / therapy
  • Saliva