Results from a recent study led by University of Pennsylvania researchers confirms that oral microbiome is in fact affected by diabetes. Published in the journal Cell Host & Microbe earlier this week, the research clearly demonstrated a shift in the oral microbiome of mice suffering from diabetes.
Dana Graves is senior author on the new study and vice dean of scholarship and research at Penn’s School of Dental Medicine. “Up until now, there had been no concrete evidence that diabetes affects the oral microbiome.” Graves and colleagues questioned a report that was issued around four years ago that stated there was no evidence to suggest such a link between the oral microbiome and diabetes exists. The report was issued by the European Federation of Periodontology and the American Academy of Periodontology.
Using a mouse model that mimics Type 2 diabetes, Graves and colleagues. Graves said, “My argument was that the appropriate studies just hadn’t been done, so I decided, we’ll do the appropriate study.” Working alongside co-author, Kyle Bittinger of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, first author E Xiao from Peking University, and others, the team set out to prove this initial study to be incorrect. First, the team characterized the oral microbiome of diabetic mice and compared it to that in healthy mice. The results were that the diabetic mice were similar to healthy versions when samples were taken just prior to hyperglycemia. However, once in this state, their microbiome became, unlike the normal littermates with a far less diverse bacteria community.
As well as diabetes the mice were also found to have periodontitis, which includes a loss of the bone that supports the teeth. They were also found to have increased levels of the signaling molecule that’s vital in immune response and inflammation, called IL-17. “The diabetic mice behaved similar to humans that had the periodontal bone loss and increased IL-17 caused by a genetic disease,” Graves said. The results from the study may not have proved that microbial changes were responsible for causing diabetes, but it did confirm there is a definite connection there. To confirm this, the researchers transferred micro-organisms from the diabetic mice to those without it and saw that these also developed bone loss.
After discovering there definitely was a link, the team wanted to know more. They suspected inflammatory cytokines, and specifically, IL-17 played a role in causing the periodontitis. To prove this they repeated the microbiome transfers, but this time they injected the diabetic mice with an anti-IL-17 antibody beforehand. The results were that the mice that received microbiomes from treated diabetic mice had far less bone loss than those that received microbiomes from untreated mice. To conclude, the authors wrote that the findings demonstrate that diabetes induced changes in the oral microbiome are responsible for driving inflammatory changes that enhance bone loss in periodontitis.
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