Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
7-29-2021
Journal
Microorganisms
Abstract
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are at increased risk of aspiration pneumonia, their primary cause of death. Their oral microbiota differs from healthy controls, exacerbating this risk. Our goal was to explore if poor oral health, poor oral hygiene, and dysphagia status affect the oral microbiota composition of these patients. In this cross-sectional case-control study, the oral microbiota from hard and soft tissues of patients with PD (n = 30) and age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy controls (n = 30) was compared using 16S rRNA gene sequencing for bacterial identification. Study participants completed dietary, oral hygiene, drooling, and dysphagia questionnaires, and an oral health screening. Significant differences in soft tissue beta-diversity (p < 0.005) were found, and a higher abundance of opportunistic oral pathogens was detected in patients with PD. Factors that significantly influenced soft tissue beta-diversity and microbiota composition include dysphagia, drooling (both p < 0.05), and salivary pH (p < 0.005). Thus, patients with PD show significant differences in their oral microbiota compared to the controls, which may be due, in part, to dysphagia, drooling, and salivary pH. Understanding factors that alter their oral microbiota could lead to the development of diagnostic and treatment strategies that improve the quality of life and survivability of these patients.
Keywords
microbiota, oral health, oral hygiene, periodontitis, periodontal disease, aspiration pneumonia
DOI
10.3390/microorganisms9081616
PMID
34442695
PMCID
PMC8402101
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
7-29-2021
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Recommended Citation
Rozas, Natalia S; Tribble, Gena D; and Jeter, Cameron B, "Oral Factors That Impact the Oral Microbiota in Parkinson's Disease" (2021). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 88.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthdb_docs/88
Published Open-Access
yes
