Examination of Some Bacteria Types in the Oral Microbiota of Athletes and Sedentary Individuals

Abstract

Aim: Oral health is important for elite sports performance, general health, and well-being. However, there is no comparison of oral microbiota in athletes with health, athletic performance, branches and general population in the literature. The aim of this study is to examine some bacterial genus in the oral microbiota of athletes and sedentary individuals. Methods: Fifteen male volunteers (age, 18-24 years) participated in the study and they were divided into 3 groups. The first group consisted of male athletes playing football in the professional league (n=5), the second group consisted of male athletes playing football in the amateur league (n=5) and the third group who did not active in any physical activity (sedentary) males (n=5). An oral swab sample was taken for the participants' oral microbiota measurements. Bioinformatics analyzes of the samples were made using the Illumina MiSeq analyzer with the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) method. Results: The microbial community profiles obtained were compared with each other and dendrograms were created using the Minitab 17 software. In the oral microbiota analysis of the groups, the dominant bacterial genus: Prevotella, Lachnospiraceae, Haemophilus, Leptotrichia and Streptococcus were found in the oral cavity. Lachnospiraceae and Streptococcus types of bacterias were found to be higher in the sport groups than the sedentary group, and there was a statistically significant difference found between them (p<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in Prevotella, Leptotrichia and Haemophilus bacteria between the athlete and sedentary groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: In the results, the oral microbiota of the group of athletes was associated with poor oral health. It can be said that football training performed both at a professional and amateur level may affect the important bacterial species in the oral microbiota of athletes. Keywords: Oral microbiota, football, athlete, sedentary, new generation sequencing (NGS)