Browning Brittney D, Kirkland Anna E, Green Rejoyce, Liu Helen, Glover Janiece S, Ticer Taylor D, Engevik Mindy A, Alekseyenko Alexander V, Ferguson Pamela L, Tomko Rachel L, Squeglia Lindsay M
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Department of Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2024 Jun;48(6):1025-1035. doi: 10.1111/acer.15331. Epub 2024 Apr 17.
Adolescence is a sensitive stage of oral microbial development that often coincides with the initiation and escalation of alcohol use. Thus, adolescents may be particularly susceptible to alcohol-induced alterations in the oral microbiome, though minimal research has been done in this area. Understanding the connection between the oral microbiome and alcohol use during adolescence is important to understand fully the biological consequences of alcohol use to mitigate potential adverse outcomes.
Saliva samples were collected from adolescents aged 17-19 who used alcohol heavily (n = 21, 52.4% female) and those who did not use alcohol or any other substances (n = 18, 44.4% female). We utilized 16S rRNA sequencing to examine differences in microbial diversity and composition between the groups.
For alpha diversity, evenness was significantly lower in the drinking group than the control group as indicated by Pielou's evenness, Shannon, and Simpson indices. There were no statistically significant findings for beta diversity. Differential abundance analyses revealed higher abundances of Rothia and Corynebacterium in the alcohol-using group using both centered-log-ratio and relative abundance normalization. These genera are known for their high capacity to convert alcohol into acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolite reported to play a role in the neurobiological effects of alcohol. An unclassified Clostridia UCG-014, Streptobacillus, Comamonas, unclassified Lachnospiraceae, and Parvimonas were also identified as significantly different between groups when using only one of the normalization techniques.
This is the first study designed specifically to compare the oral microbiome of adolescents who use alcohol with that of control participants. Our findings reveal distinct alcohol-related differences in microbial composition and taxon abundance, emphasizing the importance of understanding the impact on the oral microbiome of alcohol use during adolescence. Because the oral microbiome is malleable, this study provides foundational work for future prevention and intervention studies.
青春期是口腔微生物发育的敏感阶段，这一阶段往往与饮酒行为的开始和增加相吻合。因此，青少年可能特别容易受到酒精引起的口腔微生物群变化的影响，尽管这一领域的研究很少。了解青春期口腔微生物群与饮酒之间的联系对于全面理解饮酒的生物学后果以减轻潜在不良后果非常重要。
收集了17至19岁大量饮酒的青少年（n = 21，52.4%为女性）以及不饮酒或不使用任何其他物质的青少年（n = 18，44.4%为女性）的唾液样本。我们利用16S rRNA测序来检查两组之间微生物多样性和组成的差异。
对于α多样性，饮酒组的均匀度显著低于对照组，这由皮洛均匀度指数、香农指数和辛普森指数表明。β多样性没有统计学上的显著发现。差异丰度分析显示，使用中心对数比和相对丰度归一化方法时，饮酒组中的罗氏菌属和棒状杆菌属丰度更高。这些菌属以其将酒精转化为乙醛的高能力而闻名，乙醛是一种有毒代谢物，据报道在酒精的神经生物学效应中起作用。仅使用一种归一化技术时，未分类的梭菌属UCG - 014、链杆菌属、丛毛单胞菌属、未分类的毛螺菌科和微小单胞菌属在两组之间也被确定为有显著差异。
这是第一项专门设计用于比较饮酒青少年与对照参与者口腔微生物群的研究。我们的研究结果揭示了与酒精相关的微生物组成和分类群丰度的明显差异，强调了了解青春期饮酒对口腔微生物群影响的重要性。由于口腔微生物群具有可塑性，本研究为未来的预防和干预研究提供了基础工作。
