Li Xingying, Xiao Qiuli, Xiong Xu, Du Bing-Cheng, Zheng Huajun, Su Yi, Zhang Weiwei, Cai Xushan, Zhu Tingyu, Yin Anxin, Wang Yuezhu, Wang Haiqi, Jiang Hong
School of Public Health, NHC Key Lab of Health Technology Assessment, Fudan University, Mailbox 175, 138 Yixueyuan Road, Shanghai, 200032, China.
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70118, USA.
BMC Oral Health. 2025 Sep 26;25(1):1444. doi: 10.1186/s12903-025-06779-5.
Small vulnerable newborns (SVNs) account for most neonatal deaths worldwide. Though maternal periodontal disease has been shown associated with an increased risk of preterm birth (PTB) and low birth weight (LBW), little evidence shows the potential mechanism. Our study aimed to explore the association between maternal oral microbiota and SVNs before and during pregnancy.
A nested 1:4 case-control study was undertaken. Women delivering SVNs, including spontaneous PTB, LBW, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) newborns, were selected as cases, while women delivering normal newborns were randomly selected as controls. 480 unstimulated saliva samples were collected from 240 women (48 cases and 192 controls) in preconception and late pregnancy. 16 S rRNA gene sequencing was used for analysis.
Women with SVNs showed lower richness index (p = 0.032) in oral microbiota during preconception, lower shannon (p = 0.028) and simpson (p = 0.023) index in late pregnancy compared to the control group. Granulicatella and Streptococcus were significantly enriched in saliva both before and during pregnancy in women delivering SVNs. The two evaluated genera were positively correlated with enriched metabolic pathways like lactose and galactose degradation. These genera and their species were also enriched among women in the PTB and SGA sub-groups.
Women with SVNs exhibited significantly lower diversity in oral microbiota, with two enriched genera Granulicatella and Streptococcus in both before and during pregnancy.
小型脆弱新生儿（SVN）占全球新生儿死亡的大多数。尽管已表明孕产妇牙周疾病与早产（PTB）和低出生体重（LBW）风险增加有关，但几乎没有证据表明其潜在机制。我们的研究旨在探讨孕前和孕期母体口腔微生物群与SVN之间的关联。
进行了一项嵌套的1:4病例对照研究。将分娩SVN的妇女，包括自然早产、低出生体重和小于胎龄（SGA）新生儿，选为病例，同时随机选择分娩正常新生儿的妇女作为对照。在孕前和孕晚期从240名妇女（48例病例和192例对照）中收集了480份未刺激唾液样本。使用16S rRNA基因测序进行分析。
与对照组相比，患有SVN的妇女在孕前口腔微生物群中的丰富度指数较低（p = 0.032），在孕晚期香农指数（p = 0.028）和辛普森指数（p = 0.023）较低。在分娩SVN的妇女中，Granulicatella和链球菌在孕前和孕期的唾液中均显著富集。这两个评估的属与乳糖和半乳糖降解等丰富的代谢途径呈正相关。这些属及其物种在PTB和SGA亚组的妇女中也有富集。
患有SVN的妇女口腔微生物群多样性显著降低，在孕前和孕期均有两个富集属Granulicatella和链球菌。
