Parkinson's disease alters the composition of subgingival microbiome.

AIM

The current study aimed to test the hypothesis that Parkinson's disease exacerbates periodontitis by altering its microbiome.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Clinical periodontal parameters were recorded. Subgingival samples from healthy controls, periodontitis patients (PD), and Parkinson's patients with periodontitis (PA+PD) were analyzed using the checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization technique for targeting 40 bacterial species typically associated with periodontal disease and health. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (V1-V3 regions) was performed to analyze the microbiome comprehensively.

RESULTS

Parkinson's patients had mild-to-moderate motor dysfunctions. Bleeding on probing was significantly increased in the PA+PD group compared to PD ( < 0.05). With checkerboard analysis, PA was associated with increased ( = 0.0062), ( = 0.0439), ( < 0.0001), ( = 0.0002), ( < 0.0001), and ( = 0.0020). ( = 0.0042), ( = 0.0022), ( = 0.0002), ( = 0.0045), ( = 0.0267), ( = 0.0017), ( = 0.0020), and ( = 0.0002) were higher; ( = 0.0072) was lower in deep pockets in the PA+PD compared to PD. ( = 0.0351) and ( = 0.002) were lower; ( = 0.0002), ( = 0065), ( = 0.0151), ( = 0.0141), ( = 0.0057), and ( = 0.0316) were higher in shallow pockets in the PA+PD. Diversity decreased in PD ( = 0.001) and PA+PD ( = 0.026) compared to control, with minimal differences in alpha and beta diversities among PD and PA+PD based on NGS results.

CONCLUSION

These data demonstrated that Parkinson's disease modifies PD-associated subgingival microbiome.