Changes in Oral Microbial Diversity in a Piglet Model of Traumatic Brain Injury

• Published in: Brain sciences Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 1111
• Main Authors: Jeon, Julie Heejin, Lourenco, Jeferson M, Fagan, Madison M, Welch, Christina B, Sneed, Sydney E, Dubrof, Stephanie, Duberstein, Kylee J, Callaway, Todd R, West, Franklin D, Park, Hea Jin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21-08-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Animal cognition; Bacteria; Biomarkers; Brief Report; Buccal mucosa; Dental plaque; Genetic testing; Hogs; Microbiomes; Movement disorders; Neurodegenerative diseases; neurological disease; Neurological diseases; oral microbiome; Parkinson's disease; Pathogens; Patients; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; porcine model; rRNA 16S; Surgery; Traumatic brain injury; United States > US; oral microbiome; neurological disease; porcine model
• ISSN: 2076-3425; 2076-3425
• DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12081111

Dynamic changes in the oral microbiome have gained attention due to their potential diagnostic role in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, but no studies have examined the changes in oral microbiome during the acute stage of TBI using a clinically translational pig model. Crossbred piglets (4-5 weeks old, male) underwent either a controlled cortical impact (TBI,
= 6) or sham surgery (sham,
= 6). The oral microbiome parameters were quantified from the upper and lower gingiva, both buccal mucosa, and floor of the mouth pre-surgery and 1, 3, and 7 days post-surgery (PS) using the 16S rRNA gene. Faith's phylogenetic diversity was significantly lower in the TBI piglets at 7 days PS compared to those of sham, and beta diversity at 1, 3, and 7 days PS was significantly different between TBI and sham piglets. However, no significant changes in the taxonomic composition of the oral microbiome were observed following TBI compared to sham. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential diagnostic role of the oral microbiome during the chronic stage of TBI with a larger number of subjects.