Subgingival Microbiome in Pregnancy and a Potential Relationship to Early Term Birth

• Authors: Irene Yang, Emory University; Henry Claussen, Emory University; Robert A Arthur, Emory University; Vicki Hertzberg, Emory University; Xiaofeng Yang, Emory University; Nicolaas Geurs, University of Alabama Birmingham; Elizabeth Corwin, Emory University; Anne Dunlop, Emory University
• Journal Title: FRONTIERS IN CELLULAR AND INFECTION MICROBIOLOGY
• Volume: Volume 12
• Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA | 2022-05-11, Pages 873683-873683
• Type of Work: Article | Final Publisher PDF
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2022.873683
• Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing; Health Sciences, Dentistry; Health Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Immunology; Microbiology; pregnancy; oral microbiome; periodontal disease; preterm birth; subgingival microbiome; MATERNAL PERIODONTAL-DISEASE; RNA GENE DATABASE; ORAL-HEALTH; LAUTROPIA-MIRABILIS; BACTERIAL PROFILES; PRETERM BIRTH; SP NOV.; WOMEN; CARE; DETERMINANTS

Abstract

Background: Periodontal disease in pregnancy is considered a risk factor for adverse birth outcomes. Periodontal disease has a microbial etiology, however, the current state of knowledge about the subgingival microbiome in pregnancy is not well understood. Objective: To characterize the structure and diversity of the subgingival microbiome in early and late pregnancy and explore relationships between the subgingival microbiome and preterm birth among pregnant Black women. Methods: This longitudinal descriptive study used 16S rRNA sequencing to profile the subgingival microbiome of 59 Black women and describe microbial ecology using alpha and beta diversity metrics. We also compared microbiome features across early (8-14 weeks) and late (24-30 weeks) gestation overall and according to gestational age at birth outcomes (spontaneous preterm, spontaneous early term, full term). Results: In this sample of Black pregnant women, the top twenty bacterial taxa represented in the subgingival microbiome included a spectrum representative of various stages of biofilm progression leading to periodontal disease, including known periopathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis and Tannerella forsythia. Other organisms associated with periodontal disease reflected in the subgingival microbiome included several Prevotella spp., and Campylobacter spp. Measures of alpha or beta diversity did not distinguish the subgingival microbiome of women according to early/late gestation or full term/spontaneous preterm birth; however, alpha diversity differences in late pregnancy between women who spontaneously delivered early term and women who delivered full term were identified. Several taxa were also identified as being differentially abundant according to early/late gestation, and full term/spontaneous early term births. Conclusions: Although the composition of the subgingival microbiome is shifted toward complexes associated with periodontal disease, the diversity of the microbiome remains stable throughout pregnancy. Several taxa were identified as being associated with spontaneous early term birth. Two, in particular, are promising targets of further investigation. Depletion of the oral commensal Lautropia mirabilis in early pregnancy and elevated levels of Prevotella melaninogenica in late pregnancy were both associated with spontaneous early term birth.