Cigarette smoking and oral microbiota in low-income and African-American populationsOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Researchers examined how cigarette smoking relates to oral microbiota composition in a low income, predominately African American cohort. They compared current smokers, former smokers and never smokers.
How was it studied?
Mouth rinse samples were collected from 1616 participants in the Southern Community Cohort Study: 592 current smokers, 477 former smokers and 547 never smokers. Oral microbiota was profiled using 16S ribosomal RNA gene deep sequencing.
What did they find?
Current smokers showed a distinct overall microbial composition compared with former smokers and never smokers. Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus were enriched in current smokers, and the phylum Actinobacteria was enriched (12.35 percent versus 9.36 percent median abundance). Proteobacteria was depleted in current smokers (2.47 percent versus 7.22 percent in never smokers), with similar patterns seen in both African American and European American participants. No differences were observed between former smokers and never smokers.
Why it matters
Smoking exerts a strong, reproducible effect on the oral microbial community that appears to recover after smoking cessation.