Biocultural Drivers of Salivary Microbiota in Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children

作者：Matilda Handsley‐Davis, Emily Skelly, Newell Walter Johnson, Kostas Kapellas, Ratilal Lalloo, Jeroen Kroon, Laura Susan Weyrich · 发表于：Frontiers in Oral Health · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.3389/froh.2021.641328 · 被引用次数：43 · 研究领域：Oral microbiology and periodontitis research、Dental Health and Care Utilization、Gut microbiota and health

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experience unacceptably high rates of dental caries compared to their non-Indigenous Australian counterparts. Dental caries significantly impacts the quality of life of children and their families, particularly in remote communities. While many socioeconomic and lifestyle factors impact caries risk, the central role of the oral microbiota in mediating dental caries has not been extensively investigated in these communities. Here, we examine factors that shape diversity and composition of the salivary microbiota in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents living in the remote Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) of Far North Queensland. We employed 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequencing to profile bacteria present in saliva collected from 205 individuals aged 4–17 years from the NPA. Higher average microbial diversity was generally linked to increased age and salivary pH, less frequent toothbrushing, and proxies for lower socioeconomic status (SES). Differences in microbial composition were significantly related to age, salivary pH, SES proxies, and active dental caries. Notably, a feature classified as Streptococcus sobrinus increased in abundance in children who reported less frequent tooth brushing. A specific Veillonella feature was associated with caries presence, while features classified as Actinobacillus/Haemophilus and Leptotrichia were associated with absence of caries; a Lactobacillus gasseri fe...