Talaga-Ćwiertnia Katarzyna, Sroka-Oleksiak Agnieszka, Brzychczy-Sroka Barbara, Gurgul Artur, Zarzecka-Francica Elżbieta, Krawczyk Agnieszka, Gosiewski Tomasz, Ostrowski Wojciech, Kąkol Janusz, Zarzecka Joanna, Brzychczy-Włoch Monika
Department of Molecular Medical Microbiology, Chair of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
Department of Conservative Dentistry with Endodontics, Institute of Dentistry, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21638. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-05078-x.
The link between gut microbiota and COVID-19 has been previously established, but the role of the oral fungal microbiota in this context remains underexplored. This study aimed to characterize the oral mycobiome of COVID-19 convalescents. Saliva samples were collected from three groups: COVID-19 patients treated with antibiotics (group I), COVID-19 patients without antimicrobial treatment (group II), and healthy volunteers (group III) from the University Hospital and from the University Dental Clinic in Kraków. The samples were analyzed using next-generation sequencing (NGS) targeting the ITS-1 region. Statistically significant differences in dental indices (Plaque Index-PI, Bleeding on Probing-BOP, Winkel Tongue Coating Index-WTCI) were observed between the convalescent groups (I and II) and the control group (III). At the phylum level, significant alpha diversity differences were noted across all groups. At the genus level, alpha diversity was significant for all tested indices. Beta diversity analysis revealed no significant differences between groups I and II at either the phylum or genus levels (p > 0.05). The most abundant genera were Candida and Malassezia, with Candida being more prevalent in group I (88.11%) compared to group II (78.20%) and group III (45.81%). Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) indicated Candida as overrepresented in group I, and Malassezia as a characteristic marker in group II. Additionally, we observed the higher evenness of mold species like Aspergillus and Penicillium in the control group compared to the COVID-19 convalescents. COVID-19 convalescents, particularly those treated with antibiotics, exhibited worse oral condition compared to healthy controls, with Candida overgrowth strongly associated with antibiotic use.
肠道微生物群与2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）之间的联系此前已得到证实，但口腔真菌微生物群在此背景下的作用仍未得到充分研究。本研究旨在对COVID-19康复者的口腔真菌群落进行特征描述。从克拉科夫大学医院和大学牙科诊所的三组人群中收集唾液样本：接受抗生素治疗的COVID-19患者（第一组）、未接受抗菌治疗的COVID-19患者（第二组）和健康志愿者（第三组）。使用靶向ITS-1区域的下一代测序（NGS）对样本进行分析。在康复组（第一组和第二组）与对照组（第三组）之间观察到牙齿指数（菌斑指数-PI、探诊出血-BOP、温克尔舌苔指数-WTCI）存在统计学显著差异。在门水平上，所有组之间均存在显著的α多样性差异。在属水平上，所有测试指标的α多样性均显著。β多样性分析显示，第一组和第二组在门或属水平上均无显著差异（p>0.05）。最丰富的属是念珠菌属和马拉色菌属，与第二组（78.20%）和第三组（45.81%）相比，念珠菌属在第一组中更为普遍（88.11%）。线性判别分析（LDA）表明，念珠菌属在第一组中占比过高，而马拉色菌属是第二组的特征性标志物。此外，我们观察到，与COVID-19康复者相比，对照组中曲霉属和青霉属等霉菌物种的均匀度更高。与健康对照组相比，COVID-19康复者，尤其是接受抗生素治疗的康复者，口腔状况更差，念珠菌过度生长与抗生素使用密切相关。
