Sociodemographic patterning in the oral microbiome of a diverse sample of New Yorkers

Purpose Variations in the oral microbiome are potentially implicated in social inequalities in oral disease, cancers, and metabolic disease. We describe sociodemographic variation of oral microbiomes in a diverse sample.

Methods We performed 16S rRNA sequencing on mouthwash specimens in a subsample (n=282) of the 2013-14 population-based New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NYC-HANES). We examined differential abundance of 216 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), and alpha and beta diversity by age, sex, income, education, nativity, and race/ethnicity. For comparison, we also examined differential abundance by diet, smoking status, and oral health behaviors.

Results 69 OTUs were differentially abundant by any sociodemographic variable (false discovery rate < 0.01), including 27 by race/ethnicity, 21 by family income, 19 by education, three by sex. We also found 49 differentially abundant by smoking status, 23 by diet, 12 by oral health behaviors. Genera differing for multiple sociodemographic characteristics included Lactobacillus, Prevotella, Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium.

Conclusions We identified oral microbiome variation consistent with health inequalities, with more taxa differing by race/ethnicity than diet, and more by SES variables than oral health behaviors. Investigation is warranted into possible mediating effects of the oral microbiome in social disparities in oral, metabolic and cancers.

Highlights

• Most microbiome studies to date have had minimal sociodemographic variability, limiting what is known about associations of social factors and the microbiome.

• We examined the oral microbiome in a population-based sample of New Yorkers with wide sociodemographic variation.

• Numerous taxa were differentially abundant by race/ethnicity, income, education, marital status, and nativity.

• Frequently differentially abundant taxa include Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium, Streptococcus, and Prevotella, which are associated with oral and systemic disease.

• Mediation of health disparities by microbial factors may represent an important intervention site to reduce health disparities, and should be explored in prospective studies.