Characterization of the microbiomic association between tonsil and saliva isolated from Korean children subjected to tonsillectomy using 16S rRNA sequencing: a pilot study

Abstract

BackgroundOral microbes have the capacity to spread throughout the gastrointestinal system and are significantly associated with multiple diseases. Given that tonsils are located between the oral cavity and laryngoesophagus at the gateway of both alimentary and respiratory tracts, tonsillar tissue may also be affected by both oral (saliva) and alimentary tract microbiota. While several independent reports on oral microbiomes from saliva and tonsils are documented in the literature, limited studies have compared tonsil and saliva microbiota compositions. Here, we analyzed the distribution of the microbial communities in saliva and tonsils of healthy Korean children subjected to tonsillectomy. ResultsIn total, 29 study subjects were enrolled from an initial 45 participants subjected to tonsillectomy owing to hyperplasia over two years. The microbiome profiles of saliva and tonsils were established via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the Chao1 diversity index, the tonsil group showed higher richness in species, compared to the saliva group. On the other hand, the Shannon index revealed a significantly higher biodiversity value for saliva relative to tonsils. The microbial communities of the two groups were highly similar. The top 10 ranked taxa common to both groups determined based on average relative abundance were as follows: Haemophilus,