NexGen Sequencing to Characterize the Oral Microbiome of Macaca mulatta

Objectives: Young and adolescent humans demonstrate many of the microorganisms associated with periodontal disease in adults, and substantial gingival inflammatory responses to oral microbes. However, generally, younger individuals do not demonstrate the soft and hard tissue destruction that is the hallmark of periodontitis. This study evaluated the oral microbiome in gingival samples from Young/Adolescent (Y/AL <3-7 years) compared to older animals (AD/AG: 12-23 years) that occurred during experimental ligature-induced periodontitis and disease resolution.
Methods: Samples of the subgingival biofilms from Y/AL and AD/AG animals were obtained at baseline (BL), 2 weeks., 1 and 3-month post-ligation. The ligatures were removed after the 3 months and samples were collected at 5 months. Clinical parameters of bleeding on probing (BOP) and probing pocket depth (PPD) were obtained at all-time points. The DNA from these microbial samples were subjected to NexGen sequencing.
Results: Clinical evaluation demonstrated that while the Y/AL group showed substantial BOP, they exhibited significantly less destructive disease (PPD). Comparison of the microbiome at BL showed that the AD/AG group displayed over 50% more phylotypes of bacteria than the Y/AL group. Additionally, 21/30 of the most prevalent phylotypes were unique in the Y/AL versus the AD/AG samples. Though during ligature-induced periodontitis, the overall phylotype numbers remained consistent in both groups, there were significant changes in phylotype distribution. Finally, at the time point of disease resolution, the top 30 phylotypes showed that 66% of the representatives were ranked differently in the AD/AG group.
Conclusions: These results are the first to describe the microbiome changes in subgingival biofilms with disease across the lifespan, using a nonhuman primate periodontitis model. Clear differences in microbiome with age were noted, significant differences in changes during the disease process were observed between the groups, and once the clinical disease resolved the microbiomes remained substantially different from BL.
Supported by GM110778, UL1TR000117, RR020145, GM103538, and the Center for Oral Health Research.