Abstract
Human oral microbes play a vital role maintaining host metabolic homeostasis. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is mainly characterized by a high altitude, dry, cold, and hypoxic environment. The oral microbiota is subject to selective pressure from the plateau environment, which affects oral health. Only a few studies have focused on the characteristics of oral microbiota in high-altitude humans. We collected saliva samples from 167 Tibetans at four altitudes (2800 to 4500 m) in Tibet to explore the relationship between the high altitude environment and oral microbiota. We conducted a two (high- and ultra-high-altitude) group analysis based on altitude, and adopted the 16S rRNA strategy for high-throughput sequencing. The results show that the alpha diversity of the oral microbiota decreased with altitude, whereas beta diversity increased with altitude. A LEfSe analysis revealed that the oral microbial biomarker of the high-altitude group (< 3650 m) was Streptococcus, and the biomarker of the ultra-high-altitude group (> 4000 m) was Prevotella. The relative abundance of Prevotella increased with altitude, whereas the relative abundance of Streptococcus decreased with altitude. A network analysis showed that the microbial network structure was more compact and complex, and the interaction between the bacterial genera was more intense in the high altitude group. Gene function prediction results showed that the amino acid and vitamin metabolic pathways were upregulated in the ultra-high-altitude group. These result show that altitude is an important factor affecting the diversity and community structure of the human oral microbiota.
Highlights
The oral cavity is exposed to the external environment and is an important organ connecting the external environment and the human respiratory and digestive systems (Diamond et al 2008; Aleti et al 2019)
No significant differences in age, height, weight, or body mass index (BMI) were observed between the HA and UHA groups (Table 1)
The Tibetan oral microbiota was mainly composed of Firmicutes (35%), Bacteroidetes (22%), Proteobacteria (21%), Actinobacteria (11%), Fusobacteria (6%), Candidatus_Saccharibacteria (1%), and Spirochaetes (1%)
Summary
The oral cavity is exposed to the external environment and is an important organ connecting the external environment and the human respiratory and digestive systems (Diamond et al 2008; Aleti et al 2019). Disorders of the oral microbiota are associated with various diseases, such as dental caries, periodontitis, peri-implantitis, mucosal diseases, and oral cancers (Jorth et al 2014; Gao et al 2018; Wasfi et al 2018). An imbalance in the oral microbiota has been associated with metabolic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatic cancer, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease (Fardini et al 2010; Koren et al 2010; Ahn et al 2012; Jorth et al 2014; Atarashi 2017; Peters et al 2017; Lira-Junior and Boström 2018; Górska and Czesnikiewicz-Guzik 2020). The oral microbiota is key for maintaining the metabolic balance and homeostasis in the human body (Wade 2013; Sampaio-Mai et al 2016; Bourgeois et al 2019)
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