Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Clin Transl Gastroenterol. 2019 Jun;10(6):e00039. doi: 10.14309/ctg.0000000000000039.
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an allergen-mediated inflammatory disease affecting the esophagus. Although microbial communities may affect the host immune responses, little is known about the role of the microbiome in EoE. We compared the composition of the salivary microbiome in children with EoE with that of non-EoE controls to test the hypotheses that the salivary microbiome is altered in children with EoE and is associated with disease activity.
Saliva samples were collected from 26 children with EoE and 19 non-EoE controls comparable for age and ethnicity. The salivary microbiome was profiled using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Disease activity was assessed using the Eosinophilic Esophagitis Endoscopic Reference Score and the Eosinophilic Esophagitis Histologic Scoring System (EoEHSS).
A trend toward lower microbial richness and alpha diversity was noted in children with EoE. Although the overall salivary microbiome composition was similar between children with and without EoE, specific taxa such as Streptococcus (q value = 0.06) tended to be abundant in children with active EoE compared with non-EoE controls. Haemophilus was significantly abundant in children with active EoE compared with inactive EoE (q value = 0.0008) and increased with the increasing EoEHSS and Eosinophilic Esophagitis Histology Scoring System (q value = 5e-10). In addition, 4 broad salivary microbial communities correlated with the EoEHSS.
The composition of the salivary microbiome community structure can be altered in children with EoE. A relative abundance of Haemophilus positively correlates with the disease activity. These findings indicate that perturbations in the salivary microbiome may have a role in EoE pathobiology and could serve as a noninvasive marker of disease activity.
嗜酸性食管炎（EoE）是一种影响食管的过敏原介导的炎症性疾病。虽然微生物群落可能会影响宿主免疫反应，但人们对微生物组在 EoE 中的作用知之甚少。我们比较了 EoE 患儿和非 EoE 对照组的唾液微生物组组成，以检验以下假设：EoE 患儿的唾液微生物组发生改变，并且与疾病活动度相关。
收集 26 名 EoE 患儿和 19 名年龄和种族匹配的非 EoE 对照组的唾液样本。采用 16S rRNA 基因测序对唾液微生物组进行分析。采用嗜酸性食管炎内镜参考评分（EoEER）和嗜酸性食管炎组织学评分系统（EoEHSS）评估疾病活动度。
EoE 患儿的微生物丰富度和 alpha 多样性呈下降趋势。尽管 EoE 患儿和非 EoE 对照组的唾液微生物组总体组成相似，但特定的分类群，如链球菌（q 值=0.06），在活动期 EoE 患儿中比非 EoE 对照组更丰富。与非活动期 EoE 相比，活跃期 EoE 患儿中嗜血杆菌明显更丰富（q 值=0.0008），且随着 EoEHSS 和嗜酸性食管炎组织学评分系统（q 值=5e-10）的增加而增加。此外，4 种广泛的唾液微生物群落与 EoEHSS 相关。
EoE 患儿的唾液微生物群落结构组成可能发生改变。嗜血杆菌的相对丰度与疾病活动度呈正相关。这些发现表明，唾液微生物组的紊乱可能在 EoE 发病机制中起作用，并可作为疾病活动度的非侵入性标志物。
