Assessment of Changes in the Oral Microbiome That Occur in Dogs with Periodontal Disease

Abstract

The oral microbiome in dogs is a complex community. Under some circumstances, it contributes to periodontal disease, a prevalent inflammatory disease characterized by a complex interaction between oral microbes and the immune system. Porphyromonas and Tannerella spp. are usually dominant in this disease. How the oral microbiome community is altered in periodontal disease, especially sub-dominant microbial populations is unclear. Moreover, how microbiome functions are altered in this disease has not been studied. In this study, we compared the composition and the predicted functions of the microbiome of the cavity of healthy dogs to those with from periodontal disease. The microbiome of both groups clustered separately, indicating important differences. Periodontal disease resulted in a significant increase in Bacteroidetes and reductions in Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. Porphyromonas abundance increased 2.7 times in periodontal disease, accompanied by increases in Bacteroides and Fusobacterium. It was predicted that aerobic respiratory processes are decreased in periodontal disease. Enrichment in fermentative processes and anaerobic glycolysis were suggestive of an anaerobic environment, also characterized by higher lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. This study contributes to a better understanding of how periodontal disease modifies the oral microbiome and makes a prediction of the metabolic pathways that contribute to the inflammatory process observed in periodontal disease.

Effect of spiramycin and metronidazole on canine dental biofilm bacteria

“…On the other hand, streptococci appear to represent a minor genus in dogs (Dewhirst et al 2012). However, their relative abundance was higher in dogs with healthy periodontium than in dogs with periodontitis in the study by Santibáñez et al (2021). It was assumed that Actinomyces species and Corynebacterium species may be involved in canine periodontitis due to their trypsin-like activity (Takada and Hirasawa 2000).…”

“…Species Capnocytophaga canimorsus and Capnocytophaga cynodegmi constitute normal microbiota of the oral cavity of dogs and cats (Suzuki et al 2010;Zajkowska et al 2016). In the study of Santibáñez et al (2021), the relative abundance of the genus Capnocytophaga was higher in dogs with healthy periodontium than in dogs with periodontitis.…”

“…It has been proven that they represent a large proportion of the cultivable microbiota of canine dental biofilm (Elliott et al 2005). However, their increased occurrence in dogs with periodontitis has not been proven (Santibáñez et al 2021). On the other hand, genera Actinomyces and Corynebacterium, along with Capnocytophaga, Flavobacterium, Gemella, Abiotrophia, Streptococcus, and Frederiksenia were shown to be present in all healthy dogs regardless of breed, sex, diet or other factors in the study of Bell et al (2020).…”

Prevalence of Periodontal Pathogens in Slovak Patients with Periodontitis and Their Possible Aspect of Transmission from Companion Animals to Humans

“…T. forsythia is also considered to be a part of periodontal oral microbiome [ 53 ] and it remains an understudied periodontal microorganism [ 54 ]. In a study by Alazemi et al [ 55 ] T. forsythia was detected by PCR in 83.3% of Kuwait patients with severe and moderate periodontitis.…”

The association between gingivitis and oral spirochetes in young cats and dogs

“…There are also extensive differences between the microbiome identified in companion animals and humans [4][5][6]. Although healthy animals of the same species have similar composition of the oral microbiome, it changes with periodontal disease [7].…”