Altered Oral Viral Ecology in Association with Periodontal Disease

Abstract

The human oral cavity is home to a large and diverse community of viruses that have yet to be characterized in patients with periodontal disease. We recruited and sampled saliva and oral biofilm from a cohort of humans either periodontally healthy or with mild or significant periodontal disease to discern whether there are differences in viral communities that reflect their oral health status. We found communities of viruses inhabiting saliva and the subgingival and supragingival biofilms of each subject that were composed largely of bacteriophage. While there were homologous viruses common to different subjects and biogeographic sites, for most of the subjects, virome compositions were significantly associated with the oral sites from which they were derived. The largest distinctions between virome compositions were found when comparing the subgingival and supragingival biofilms to those of planktonic saliva. Differences in virome composition were significantly associated with oral health status for both subgingival and supragingival biofilm viruses but not for salivary viruses. Among the differences identified in virome compositions was a significant expansion of myoviruses in subgingival biofilm, suggesting that periodontal disease favors lytic phage. We also characterized the bacterial communities in each subject at each biogeographic site by using the V3 hypervariable segment of the 16S rRNA and did not identify distinctions between oral health and disease similar to those found in viral communities. The significantly altered ecology of viruses of oral biofilm in subjects with periodontal disease compared to that of relatively periodontally healthy ones suggests that viruses may serve as useful indicators of oral health status.

Transmission of viruses via our microbiomes

“…Those studies have demonstrated that viral communities are highly diverse, carry substantial pathogenic gene functions, are populated by viruses that persist over time, and have individual- and body surface-specific ecology [1, 3–6, 12, 20]. Our data indicate that viral communities in the mouth and gut are readily shared within a household, likely through transmissions from one subject to another.…”

“…How the microbiome responds to perturbations such as antibiotics may determine our susceptibility to pathogen colonization and/or to the development of certain diseases [6–8]. Viral communities also respond to perturbations, although in different ways than might be predicted based on the responses of their bacterial hosts.…”

Ecology of the Oral Microbiome: Beyond Bacteria

“…As major technical advancements have brought the human virome to light, several critical and unanticipated observations have been described. It is now known that healthy humans carry a large diversity of both eukaryotic viruses and prokaryotic phages [17–19]. Furthermore, human blood, once thought to be sterile in healthy individuals, was found to contain both virus and phage [17, 20].…”

Enterosalivary nitrate metabolism and the microbiome: Intersection of microbial metabolism, nitric oxide and diet in cardiac and pulmonary vascular health

“…Bacteriophages share with host bacteria a similar site-specific diversity in the mouth and disease associations such as periodontitis[220,221]. Other viruses, such as HIV, also alter the oral microbiome, mycobiome, and NO-driven disease susceptibility (such as CVD and PH)[222–224].…”