Microbiomes associated with bovine periodontitis and oral health

Abstract

Periodontitis is an infectious polymicrobial, immuno-inflammatory disease of multifactorial aetiology that has an impact on the health, production and welfare of ruminants. The objective of the present study was to determine the microbial profiles present in the gingival sulcus of cattle considered periodontally healthy and in the periodontal pocket of animals with periodontitis lesions using high-throughput bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Subgingival biofilm samples were collected from 40 cattle with periodontitis and 38 periodontally healthy animals. In total, 1923 OTUs were identified and classified into 395 genera or higher taxa. Microbial profiles in health differed significantly from periodontitis in their composition (p < 0.0001, F = 5.30; PERMANOVA) but no statistically significant differences were observed in the diversity of healthy and periodontitis microbiomes. The most prevalent taxa in health were Pseudomonas, Burkholderia and Actinobacteria, whereas in disease these were Prevotella, Fusobacterium and Porphyromonas. The most discriminative taxa in health were Gastranaerophilales, Planifilum and Burkholderia, and in disease these were Elusimicrobia, Synergistes and Propionivibrio. In conclusion, statistically significant difference exists between the microbiome in bovine oral health and periodontitis, with populations showing 72.6% dissimilarity. The diversity of the bacteria found in health and periodontitis were similar and bacteria recognised as periodontal pathogens showed increased abundance in disease. In this context, the main components of bacterial homeostasis in the biofilm of healthy sites and of dysbiosis in periodontal lesions provide unprecedented indicators for the evolution of knowledge about bovine periodontitis.

Efficacy of virginiamycin for the control of periodontal disease in calves

“…Mollicutes class and Archaea domain, in humans and animals, are present in healthy patients with gingivitis, necrotizing gingivitis, or periodontitis (Yamabe et al 2008, Faveri et al 2011, Griffen et al 2012, Chen et al 2015, Harris et al 2015. In cattle with periodontitis, Mollicutes class is more often associated with the disease (Borsanelli et al 2018). In the calves in the present study, class Mollicutes was detected in sites with gingivitis and necrotizing gingivitis, and it can be noted that this microorganism was present in the different phases of periodontal diseases.…”

“…As multifactorial infectious diseases, periodontal diseases are non-linear processes, external to the organism but associated with the bacterial biofilm adhered to the tooth and planktonic microbiota (Socransky & Haffajee 2005, Borsanelli et al 2018. In this approach, the action of virginiamycin probably has been in the promotion of bacterial homeostasis favorable to the maintenance of periodontal health or in the prevention of dysbiosis, which causes the onset of periodontal diseases.…”

“…In cattle with periodontitis, the disease does not occur without the presence of certain microorganisms that are considered normal constituents of the oral microbiota (Dutra & Döbereiner 2001, Borsanelli et al 2018. Thus, in animals with gingivitis and necrotizing gingivitis, A.…”

“…In a recent study, oral microbiomes of healthy cattle and those with periodontitis revealed 72.1% dissimilarity; however, the diversity of bacteria found in healthy and diseased sites was similar, with a predominance of the genera Prevotella, Fusobacterium, and Porphyromonas in periodontal lesions (Borsanelli et al 2018). Thereby, it can be evidenced that bovine oral microbiota is rich and diversified, composed of 395 genera or higher taxa and that microorganisms considered as potential periodontal pathogens are associated with the occurrence of periodontitis in these animals.…”

Evaluation of tissue levels of Toll-like receptors and cytokine mRNAs associated with bovine periodontitis and oral health

“…Several species of potential periodontopathogens have recently been identified in bovine periodontal lesions by PCR, including spirochaetes and black-pigmented anaerobic bacteria (Borsanelli et al, 2015a;Borsanelli et al, 2015b). We have recently shown that the key genera associated with bovine periodontitis are Prevotella, Fusobacterium and Porphyromonas (Borsanelli et al, 2018), genera which are also associated with human periodontitis. Therefore, it is likely that members of these genera may be important in the activation of TLRs observed in this study.…”