Profiling the oral microbiomes in patients with Alzheimer's diseaseOriginal 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 compared oral microbiomes of 26 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients against 26 cognitively intact adults. They assessed cognition, depression, oral health, saliva, and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF).
How was it studied?
Full length 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed on saliva and GCF samples using the PacBio platform, then compared for community composition and diversity.
What did they find?
Streptococcus oralis dominated salivary microbiomes and Porphyromonas gingivalis dominated periodontal microbiomes in AD patients. Periodontal microbiome beta diversity differed significantly between groups. Veillonella parvula abundance was significantly higher in AD patients, and dominant species differed by AD onset age and clinical severity.
Why it matters
V. parvula correlated with AD in both saliva and GCF, while P. gingivalis correlated with AD only in GCF, suggesting periodontal microbiome shifts track cognitive changes and may serve as biomarkers.