The association between oral and gut microbiota in male patients with alcohol dependence

Lingming Hu; Zhaojun Ni; Kangqing Zhao; Xiangxue Li; Xuejiao Gao; Yulin Kang; Zhoulong Yu; Ying Qin; Jingwen Zhao; Wenjuan Peng; Lin Lu; Hongqiang Sun

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1203678

The association between oral and gut microbiota in male patients with alcohol dependence

Front Microbiol. 2023 Jul 28:14:1203678. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1203678. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lingming Hu¹, Zhaojun Ni¹, Kangqing Zhao¹, Xiangxue Li¹, Xuejiao Gao¹, Yulin Kang², Zhoulong Yu¹, Ying Qin³, Jingwen Zhao³, Wenjuan Peng³, Lin Lu^{1

4

5}, Hongqiang Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Peking University, Beijing, China.
² Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ The Second People's Hospital of Guizhou Province, Guiyang, Guizhou, China.
⁴ National Institute on Drug Dependence, Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Peking-Tsinghua Centre for Life Sciences and PKU-DG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: The relationship between oral and gut microbiota in alcohol dependence (AD) is not well understood, particularly the effects of oral microbiota on the intestinal microbiota. The current study aimed to explore the association between oral and gut microbiota in AD to clarify whether oral microbiota could ectopically colonize into the gut.

Methods: 16S rRNA sequence libraries were used to compare oral and gut microbial profiles in persons with AD and healthy controls (HC). Source Tracker and NetShift were used to identify bacteria responsible for ectopic colonization and indicate the driver function of ectopic colonization bacteria.

Results: The α-diversity of oral microbiota and intestinal microbiota was significantly decreased in persons with AD (all p < 0.05). Principal coordinate analysis indicated greater similarity between oral and gut microbiota in persons with AD than that in HC, and oral-gut overlaps in microbiota were found for 9 genera in persons with AD relative to only 3 genera in HC. The contribution ratio of oral microbiota to intestinal microbiota composition in AD is 5.26% based on Source Tracker，and the AD with ectopic colonization showed the daily maximum standard drinks, red blood cell counts, hemoglobin content, and PACS scores decreasing (all p < 0.05).

Discussion: Results highlight the connection between oral-gut microbiota in AD and suggest novel potential mechanistic possibilities.

Keywords: Source Tracker; alcohol dependence; ectopic colonization; gut microbiota; oral microbiota.