Handsley-Davis Matilda, Kapellas Kostas, Jamieson Lisa M, Hedges Joanne, Skelly Emily, Kaidonis John, Anastassiadis Poppy, Weyrich Laura S
Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health (ARCPOH), Adelaide Dental School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Evol Med Public Health. 2022 Aug 5;10(1):352-362. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoac024. eCollection 2022.
Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders (hereafter respectfully referred to as Indigenous Australians) experience a high burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Increased NCD risk is linked to oral diseases mediated by the oral microbiota, a microbial community influenced by both vertical transmission and lifestyle factors. As an initial step towards understanding the oral microbiota as a factor in Indigenous health, we present the first investigation of oral microbiota in Indigenous Australian adults.
Dental calculus samples from Indigenous Australians with periodontal disease (PD; = 13) and non-Indigenous individuals both with ( = 19) and without PD ( = 20) were characterized using 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing. Alpha and beta diversity, differentially abundant microbial taxa and taxa unique to different participant groups were analysed using QIIME2.
Samples from Indigenous Australians were more phylogenetically diverse (Kruskal-Wallis = 19.86, = 8.3 × 10), differed significantly in composition from non-Indigenous samples (PERMANOVA pseudo- = 10.42, = 0.001) and contained a relatively high proportion of unique taxa not previously reported in the human oral microbiota (e.g. Endomicrobia). These patterns were robust to stratification by PD status. Oral microbiota diversity and composition also differed between Indigenous individuals living in different geographic regions.
Indigenous Australians may harbour unique oral microbiota shaped by their long relationships with Country (ancestral homelands). Our findings have implications for understanding the origins of oral and systemic NCDs and for the inclusion of Indigenous peoples in microbiota research, highlighting the microbiota as a novel field of enquiry to improve Indigenous health.
澳大利亚原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民（以下统称为澳大利亚原住民）面临着较高的慢性非传染性疾病（NCDs）负担。非传染性疾病风险的增加与由口腔微生物群介导的口腔疾病有关，口腔微生物群是一个受垂直传播和生活方式因素影响的微生物群落。作为将口腔微生物群作为澳大利亚原住民健康因素进行理解的第一步，我们首次对澳大利亚原住民成年人的口腔微生物群进行了调查。
使用16S核糖体RNA基因扩增子测序对患有牙周病（PD；n = 13）的澳大利亚原住民以及患有（n = 19）和未患有PD（n = 20）的非原住民个体的牙结石样本进行了特征分析。使用QIIME2分析了α和β多样性、差异丰富的微生物分类群以及不同参与者群体特有的分类群。
澳大利亚原住民的样本在系统发育上更加多样化（Kruskal-Wallis检验，H = 19.86，P = 8.3×10⁻⁸），其组成与非原住民样本有显著差异（PERMANOVA伪F = 10.42，P = 0.001），并且包含相对较高比例的此前未在人类口腔微生物群中报道过的独特分类群（例如内共生菌纲）。这些模式在按PD状态分层时是稳健的。生活在不同地理区域的澳大利亚原住民个体之间的口腔微生物群多样性和组成也存在差异。
澳大利亚原住民可能拥有受其与家园（祖传土地）长期关系影响而形成的独特口腔微生物群。我们的研究结果对于理解口腔和全身性非传染性疾病的起源以及将原住民纳入微生物群研究具有启示意义，突出了微生物群作为改善原住民健康的一个新研究领域。
