The oral microbiome analysis reveals the similarities and differences between periodontitis and Crohn's disease-associated periodontitisOriginal 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 the oral microbiome in periodontitis versus Crohn's disease-associated periodontitis, using subgingival plaque and saliva samples from affected patients.
How was it studied?
Subgingival plaque and saliva were collected and analyzed with 16S rRNA gene sequencing to compare microbial composition and diversity between sample types and between the two disease groups.
What did they find?
In Crohn's-associated periodontitis, subgingival plaque showed greater diversity than saliva, with more Bacteroidetes, Actinomyces, Treponema_2, Capnocytophaga, and Porphyromonas, and less Firmicutes, Streptococcus, and Haemophilus. Plaque composition was similar across both diseases: periodontitis plaque was dominated by red complex bacteria (Porphyromonas, Tannerella, Treponema) plus orange complex Fusobacteria, while Crohn's-associated periodontitis plaque favored orange complex Prevotella_2 and Prevotella. Pocket depth correlated positively with Porphyromonas, Tannerella, and Treponema.
Why it matters
The shared subgingival pathogen profile between periodontitis and Crohn's-associated periodontitis supports further investigation into how gut and oral microbiota interact in Crohn's disease.