Maturation of Oral Microbiota in Children with or without Dental Caries

Abstract

BackgroundThe aim of this longitudinal study was to evaluate the oral microbiota in children from age 3 months to 3 years, and to determine the association of the presence of caries at 3 years of age.Methods and findingsOral biofilms and saliva were sampled from children at 3 months (n = 207) and 3 years (n = 155) of age, and dental caries was scored at 3 years of age. Oral microbiota was assessed by culturing of total lactobacilli and mutans streptococci, PCR detection of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, 454 pyrosequencing and HOMIM (Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray) microarray detection of more then 300 species/ phylotypes. Species richness and taxa diversity significantly increased from 3 months to 3 years. Three bacterial genera, present in all the 3-month-old infants, persisted at 3 years of age, whereas three other genera had disappeared by this age. A large number of new taxa were also observed in the 3-year-olds. The microbiota at 3 months of age, except for lactobacilli, was unrelated to caries development at a later age. In contrast, several taxa in the oral biofilms of the 3-year-olds were linked with the presence or absence of caries. The main species/phylotypes associated with caries in 3-year-olds belonged to the Actinobaculum, Atopobium, Aggregatibacter, and Streptococcus genera, whereas those influencing the absence of caries belonged to the Actinomyces, Bergeyella, Campylobacter, Granulicatella, Kingella, Leptotrichia, and Streptococcus genera.ConclusionsThus, during the first years of life, species richness and taxa diversity in the mouth increase significantly. Besides the more prevalent colonization of lactobacilli, the composition of the overall microbiota at 3 months of age was unrelated to caries development at a later age. Several taxa within the oral biofilms of the 3-year-olds could be linked to the presence or absence of caries.

Leptotrichia species in human infections II

“…HOT 431, Lactobacillus , Atopobium genus, A. parvulum , Actinobaculum sp. HOT 513, culture, HTS, microarray[49]M/F 3–3 MY L. hofstadii /Leptotrichia sp. HOT 203 or 234Healthy, CFPlaque, biofilm, saliva, mouth C. concisus , G. adiacens , Actinomyces sp.…”

“…Since previous reviews [2,3], Leptotrichia species have been reported in >124 cases [4,7,16,18–69,87–93], whereby 30 cases involved L. buccalis [4,8,15,21,34,52,56,70–79,87], 24 cases L. wadei [4,20,24,34,37,42,48,56,67,80,81,90,93], 16 cases L. trevisanii [4,5,9,10,13,14,17,37,87], 14 cases L. hofstadii [34,40,49,56,81–84,93], 10 cases L. goodfellowii [4,11,12,21,56,74,85,87], eight cases L. hongkongensis [4,6,18,45,47,56], and five L. shahii [34,56,86]. L. trevisanii and L. wadei bacteremia are extremely rare; clinicians should consider these species in cases involving immunocompromised patients with oral lesions [4,5,13,17,87].…”

“…L. hofstadii has been isolated from subgingival samples and gingival crevicular fluid of periodontitis patients [83], saliva, biofilm from caries [49,65], the mucosal surface of patients with removable partial dentures, and root canals of patients with or without disease [34,56,84], tumor tissue [40], and tongue coatings of halitosis patients (Table 2) [81,82]. …”

“…They were also recovered from oral plaque of guinea pigs [21] and feces of piglets [54], dental plaque from healthy individuals, plaque and saliva from patients with various types of caries, gingivitis, chronic periodontitis, and peri-implantitis [23,25–27,34,35,37,38,44,45,47,49,52,59,60,62,66–69,91,94], decayed tooth surfaces and discordant caries from intact enamel surfaces [53]. Leptotrichia species were also isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and patients with leukocytosis, hypoxemia, and dyspnea [24].…”

“…Also, Leptotrichia species were isolated from tumor tissues and sputum of patients with tuberculosis, acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and feces of piglets with porcine epidemic diarrhea virus [40,41,43,50,51]. They were also detected in patient material from tongue plaque with malodor [42], biofilms of caries, oral epithelial cells [48,49], vaginal swabs with high-risk human papillomavirus, and from HIV-positive and -negative subjects [55]. The guts of herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous fish [58], tumor tissues and saliva of patients with head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma human papillomavirus (HPV), oropharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma HPV, and oral cavity squamous-cell carcinoma HPV [19] all contained Leptotrichia species.…”