title: The oral mucosal and salivary microbial community of Behçet's syndrome and recurrent aphthous stomatitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a multisystem immune-related disease of unknown etiology. Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is characterized by the presence of idiopathic oral ulceration without extraoral manifestation. The interplay between the oral microbial communities and the immune response could play an important role in the etiology and pathogenesis of both BS and RAS.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the salivary and oral mucosal microbial communities in BS and RAS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Purified microbial DNA isolated from saliva samples (54 BS, 25 healthy controls [HC], and 8 RAS) were examined by the human oral microbe identification microarray. Cultivable salivary and oral mucosal microbial communities from ulcer and non-ulcer sites were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight analysis. Mycobacterium spp. were detected in saliva and in ulcer and non-ulcer oral mucosal brush biopsies following culture on Lowenstein-Jensen slopes and Mycobacterial Growth Indicator Tubes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was increased colonization with Rothia denticariosa of the non-ulcer sites of BS and RAS patients (p<0.05). Ulcer sites in BS were highly colonized with Streptococcus salivarius compared to those of RAS (p<0.05), and with Streptococcus sanguinis compared to HC (p<0.0001). Oral mucosa of HC were more highly colonized with Neisseria and Veillonella compared to all studied groups (p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite the uncertainty whether the reported differences in the oral mucosal microbial community of BS and RAS are of causative or reactive nature, it is envisaged that restoring the balance of the oral microbial community of the ulcer sites may be used in the future as a new treatment modality for oral ulceration.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Noha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Seoudi
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Lesley A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Bergmeier
authors.affiliation: Centre for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Blizard Institute of Cell and Molecular Sciences, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.|Department of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College, London, UK.
authors.forename: Francis
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drobniewski
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, The Forsyth Institute, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Microbiology, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Paster
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical and Diagnostic Oral Sciences, Institute of Dentistry, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK; f.fortune@qmul.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Farida
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fortune
keywords: Behçet's syndrome; microbiota; oral mucosa; recurrent aphthous stomatitis; saliva