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Oral Microbiome from Birth to Adolescence

Alhamed, SAS; (2013) Oral Microbiome from Birth to Adolescence. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

The oral cavity is one of the most complex microbial habitats across the human body. A balance of endogenous and exogenous factors controls this environment; any disturbance of that balance will lead to diseases, such as caries and periodontal diseases. Therefore a comprehensive assessment study of the oral microbiome acquisition and development from birth to adolescent age will provide valuable baseline data and better understanding of the microbial ecology. Analysing the depth of oral microbiome ecology and the impact of chronological factors such as teeth eruption and puberty by means of Next Generation Sequencing was the main aim of this study. Supragingival plaque samples were collected from 80 subjects (aged 1 month to 17 years), divided chronologically in to four groups: edentulous infants, deciduous dentition, prepuberty and post puberty. Microbial composition of plaque was assessed by barcoded pyrosequencing of the V5-V6 hypervariable regions of the 16S rRNA. Pyrosequencing reads represented 8 phyla and 102 higher taxa (genus or more inclusive taxa when sequences could not be confidently classified to the genus level) of these 31 unclassified yet. Four phyla (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Prtoteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) predominated all age groups. In the infant cohort, formula feeding was found to be an important factor in altering the oral microbiome, since exclusively formula-fed infants showed higher prevalence of Prevotella melaninogenica, Neisseria polysaccharea, and Granulicatella adiacens. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to phyla level. Moreover, no conclusion could be drawn regarding the correlation with dmft/DMFT in the pre-puberty and post-puberty groups due to the discrepancy in the sample size. However, at genera level Abiotrophia (mainly A. Defectiva) and Capnocytophaga (mainly C. gingivalis) were detected more frequently in the healthy group. Other major sequences involve (Streptococcus, Neisseria, Lautropia, Fusobacterium, Leptotrichia, Porophyromonas, Prevotella, Actinobaculum, Actinomyces, Corynebacterium, Rothia) were all recorded to be higher in dmft/DMFT group.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Oral Microbiome from Birth to Adolescence
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Keywords: Oral, Microbiome
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Eastman Dental Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1414998
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