Oral Microbiota Transplant in Dogs with Naturally Occurring Periodontitis

Abstract

In periodontitis patients, dysbiosis of the oral microbiota is not only found at clinically diseased periodontal sites but also at clinically healthy periodontal sites, buccal mucosae, tongue, and saliva. The present study evaluated the safety and efficacy of an oral microbiota transplant (OMT) for the treatment of periodontitis in dogs. Eighteen systemically healthy beagle dogs with naturally occurring periodontitis were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to a test or control group. A 4-y-old, periodontally healthy female beagle dog served as a universal OMT donor. To reduce periodontal inflammation, all dogs received full-mouth mechanical debridement of teeth and mucosae 2 wk before baseline. At baseline, full-mouth mechanical debridement was repeated and followed by adjunctive subgingival and oral irrigation with 0.1% NaOCl. Subsequently, test dogs were inoculated with an OMT from the healthy donor. No daily oral hygiene was performed after OMT transplantation. Adverse events were assessed throughout the observation period. Clinical examinations were performed and whole-mouth oral microbiota samples were collected at week 2, baseline, week 2, and week 12. The composition of oral microbiota samples was analyzed using high-throughput 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing followed by taxonomic assignment and downstream bioinformatic and statistical analyses. Results demonstrated that the intergroup difference in the primary outcome measure, probing pocket depth at week 12, was statistically insignificant. However, the single adjunctive OMT had an additional effect on the oral microbiota composition compared to the full-mouth mechanical and antimicrobial debridement alone. The OMT resulted in an “ecological shift” toward the composition of the donor microbiota, but this was transient in nature and was not observed at week 12. No local or systemic adverse events were observed throughout the study period. The results indicate that OMT may modulate the microbiota composition in dogs with naturally occurring periodontitis and can be applied safely.

Neutrophils Orchestrate the Periodontal Pocket

“…The host genetic backdrop of dysbiosis indicates that it is in many cases a consequence of immune defects respectively dysregulation. In addition, the inability to transfer oral pathogens within the family ( 79 ) or the merely transient effect of a single oral microbiota transplant in dogs ( 80 ), supports the concept that the dysbiosis of dental biofilm is a result of the dysregulated host immunity and not vice versa. Neither microbiota transplantation ( 80 ) nor probiotics have any effect on periodontitis ( 81 ) and gingival inflammation ( 82 ).…”

Development and characterization of an oral microbiome transplant among Australians for the treatment of dental caries and periodontal disease: A study protocol

“…To further supress the resident microbiota of the recipient mice, subgingival and oral irrigation with 0.1% sodium hypochlorite would be done for 5 min. The sodium hypochlorite would then be inactivated by using 23μM buffered sodium ascorbate for 10 min [ 25 , 27 ]. The OMT would be delivered locally in hydrogel loaded dental tray.…”

“…Oral microbiome transplantation (OMT) is a similar concept to Faecal Microbiome Transplant, which involves transferring oral bacteria from a healthy donor to a patient suffering from a disease, such as dental caries or periodontitis. OMT therapy has recently been successfully performed among dogs with naturally occurring periodontitis [ 25 ]; this successful procedure in canines involved placing healthy donor plaque samples into a sterile saline solution, loading the mixture on a nylon swab, and swabbing/irrigating the tooth surface of the transplant recipient. While this procedure has been proposed in humans using an array of techniques [ 26 , 27 ], this procedure has not yet been completed in humans, and the most appropriate, effective approach has not yet been identified.…”

“…To overcome this, we propose a novel approach to developing and testing OMT prior to human clinical trials. Overall, our approach involves (1) identifying and scrutinizing healthy donor plaque material; (2) growing the plaque microbiota in vitro in a flow cell, developed by extending the work of several previous teams [ 25 , 26 , 28 , 29 ]; (3) integrating donor oral microbiota into a formulated hydrogel; and (4) transplanting donor material into an animal model of oral disease to test its efficacy and safety.…”

“…gingivalis can be considered an oral pathogen [ 33 , 34 ] and a higher diversity in oral microbiota can be linked with disease, such as periodontal disease [ 34 ]). In canine OMT, the authors confirmed that the oral microbiome of healthy dogs/participant was different from the oral microbiome of both periodontitis [ 25 , 27 ] and edentulous patients [ 27 ] but failed to identify the constituents that demarcate a ‘healthy donor’. Therefore, we propose that microbiota from an OMT super donor should have the following characteristics: (1) possesses limited abundances of ‘red’ complex microbes, as defined by Socransky, et al [ 16 ] and known cariogenic species ( e .…”