Bacterial profiles of saliva in relation to diet, lifestyle factors, and socioeconomic status.
OBJECTIVE
The bacterial profile of saliva is composed of bacteria from different oral surfaces. The objective of this study was to determine whether different diet intake, lifestyle, or socioeconomic status is associated with characteristic bacterial saliva profiles.


METHODS
Stimulated saliva samples from 292 participants with low levels of dental caries and periodontitis, enrolled in the Danish Health Examination Survey (DANHES), were analyzed for the presence of approximately 300 bacterial species by means of the Human Oral Microbe Identification Microarray (HOMIM). Using presence and levels (mean HOMIM-value) of bacterial probes as endpoints, the influence of diet intake, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status on the bacterial saliva profile was analyzed by Mann-Whitney tests with Benjamini-Hochberg's correction for multiple comparisons and principal component analysis.


RESULTS
Targets for 131 different probes were identified in 292 samples, with Streptococcus and Veillonella being the most predominant genera identified. Two bacterial taxa (Streptococcus sobrinus and Eubacterium [11][G-3] brachy) were more associated with smokers than non-smokers (adjusted p-value<0.01). Stratification of the group based on extreme ends of the parameters age, gender, alcohol consumption, body mass index (BMI), and diet intake had no statistical influence on the composition of the bacterial profile of saliva. Conversely, differences in socioeconomic status were reflected by the bacterial profiles of saliva.


CONCLUSIONS
The bacterial profile of saliva seems independent of diet intake, but influenced by smoking and maybe socioeconomic status.
Section of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Daniel
D
Belstrøm
Section of Periodontology, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Palle
P
Holmstrup
Institute for Inflammation Research, Department of Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Claus H
CH
Nielsen
Department of Medical Microbiology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nikolai
N
Kirkby
Section of Cariology, School of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Science, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Svante
S
Twetman
Institute of Preventive Medicine, Bispebejerg and Frederiksberg Hospitals, The Capital Region, Copenhagen, Denmark ; The Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders, University of Sydney, Australia ; National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Berit L
BL
Heitmann
Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA, USA.
Vanja
V
Klepac-Ceraj
Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA ; Department of Oral Medicine, Infection & Immunity, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Bruce J
BJ
Paster
Department of International Health, Immunology & Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Nils-Erik
NE
Fiehn
HOMIM; bacteria; diet lifestyle; saliva