Bhattacharya Sukanta S, Yadav Brijesh, Jandarov Roman, Jetter William A, Yadav Jagjit S
Pulmonary Pathogenesis and Immunotoxicology Laboratory, Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Department of Biostatistics, Health Informatics & Data Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA.
Microorganisms. 2025 May 18;13(5):1154. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13051154.
Epidemiological studies show firefighters have increased risks of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. To explore links between occupational/environmental exposures and dysbiosis-associated health risks, this case-control study compared oral microbiota of age-matched firefighters (n = 13) and non-firefighters (n = 13) using next-generation sequencing. Firefighters exhibited significantly reduced overall microbial diversity ( ≤ 0.05) and compositional shifts. Firmicutes increased from 53.5% to 68.5%, and Bacteroidetes from 9.5% to 14.1%, while Proteobacteria decreased from 24.6% to 8.3%, and Fusobacteria from 3.3% to 1.1%. This resulted in a higher Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (5.63 vs. 4.89 in controls), indicating a pro-inflammatory oral microenvironment. At the family level, Streptococcaceae (45.1% to 60.3%) and Prevotellaceae (6.2% to 10.0%) increased, whereas Neisseriaceae (17.7% to 4.9%) and Fusobacteriaceae (2.1% to 0.8%) decreased. The genus dominated firefighters' microbiota, rising from 45.1% to 60.3%. Diversity indices confirmed reduced microbial evenness and richness in firefighters. Metadata analysis linked frequent fire exposures to perturbations in Comamonadaceae and Carnobacteriaceae ( ≤ 0.05). Barbecue consumption, a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, correlated with elevated Spirochaetaceae and Peptostreptococcaceae. This first report on oral dysbiosis in firefighters reveals significant alterations in microbiota abundance, diversity, and evenness, implying potential health risks for this group.
流行病学研究表明，消防员患癌症、糖尿病和心血管疾病的风险增加。为了探究职业/环境暴露与菌群失调相关健康风险之间的联系，这项病例对照研究使用下一代测序技术，比较了年龄匹配的消防员（n = 13）和非消防员（n = 13）的口腔微生物群。消防员的总体微生物多样性显著降低（≤0.05），且菌群组成发生了变化。厚壁菌门从53.5%增加到68.5%，拟杆菌门从9.5%增加到14.1%，而变形菌门从24.6%降至8.3%，梭杆菌门从3.3%降至1.1%。这导致厚壁菌门与拟杆菌门的比例更高（对照组为5.63，消防员组为4.89），表明口腔微环境具有促炎作用。在科水平上，链球菌科（从45.1%增至60.3%）和普雷沃氏菌科（从6.2%增至10.0%）增加，而奈瑟菌科（从17.7%降至4.9%）和梭杆菌科（从2.1%降至0.8%）减少。某属在消防员的微生物群中占主导地位，从45.1%增至60.3%。多样性指数证实消防员的微生物均匀度和丰富度降低。元数据分析将频繁接触火灾与丛毛单胞菌科和肉杆菌科的扰动联系起来（≤0.05）。食用烧烤作为多环芳烃的一个来源，与螺旋体科和消化链球菌科的增加相关。这份关于消防员口腔菌群失调的首份报告揭示了微生物群丰度、多样性和均匀度的显著变化，这意味着该群体存在潜在的健康风险。
