Subgingival Microbiome of Gingivitis in Chinese Undergraduates

Objective: To analyse the microbiome composition of health and gingivitis in Chinese undergraduates with high-throughput sequencing. Methods: Sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons was performed with the MiSeq system to compare subgingival bacterial communities from 54 subjects with gingivitis and 12 periodontally healthy controls. Results: A total of 1,967,372 sequences representing 14 phyla, 104 genera, and 96 species were detected. Analysis of similarities (Anosim) test and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed significantly different community profiles between the health control and the subjects with gingivitis. Alpha-diversity metrics were significantly higher in the subgingival plaque of the subjects with gingivitis compared with that of the healthy control. Overall, the relative abundance of 35 genera and 46 species were significantly different between the two groups, among them 28 genera and 45 species showed higher relative abundance in the subjects with gingivitis, whereas seven genera and one species showed a higher relative abundance in the healthy control. The genera Porphyromonas, Treponema, and Tannerella showed higher relative abundance in the subjects with gingivitis, while the genera Capnocytophaga showed higher proportions in health controls. Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas endodontalis had higher relative abundance in gingivitis. Among them, Porphyromonas gingivalis was most abundant. Conclusion: Our results revealed significantly different microbial community composition and structures of subgingival plaque between subjects with gingivitis and healthy controls. Subjects with gingivitis showed greater taxonomic diversity compared with periodontally healthy subjects. The proportion of Porphyromonas, especially Porphyromonas gingivalis, may be associated with gingivitis subjects aged between 18 and 21 years old in China. Adults with gingivitis in this age group may have a higher risk of developing periodontitis. Keywords: gingivitis, high-throughput sequencing, microbiome, undergraduates