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Diversity analysis of microbiomes in feline oral health and FORL following two-step cluster analysis. (a) Observed species richness (number of OTUs per sample). (b) Chao-1 index. (c) Shannon diversity index. (d) Simpson index. Samples from feline oral health (n=25) are shown in green, those from FORL-1 sub-group (n=12) are shown in red and those from FORL-2 sub-group (n=28) are shown in yellow. Following two-step cluster analysis, statistically significant differences in species richness and diversity were observed between all three groups ***P <0.001.
Source publication
Introduction. Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL) is one of the most common and painful oral diseases of the cat. It is characterised by tooth resorption due to destructive activity of odontoclasts. FORL can result in tooth loss. While the aetiology of FORL is not clearly understood, it is thought to be multifactorial and bacteria are lik...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... significant differences (P <0.001) were observed among all three groups (healthy, FORL-1, FORL-2) for each of the four analyses (Fig. 6). The FORL-1 sub-group appeared to differ in several respects, with lower values for microbial species diversity and lower average numbers of OTUs when compared to both the healthy group and the FORL-2 ...
Citations
... Teeth are absorbed because of the destructive activities of odontoclast cells. Certain salivary cytokines serve as inflammatory biomarkers of the condition that leads to FORL [41,43]. Chronic cat gingivostomatitis is a severe immune system-mediated inflammatory disease of the oral mucosa, associated with microbial dysbiosis, but the pathogenesis remains unclear. ...
Cats are increasingly favored as companion animals; their health has drawn widespread attention. Given the continuous improvements in the required living standards of both humans and animals, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, diarrhea, constipation, periodontal disease, obesity, diabetes, and other health issues have become recognized as valid pet problems. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat pet diseases, greatly improving animal health. However, antibiotic abuse is common, especially when seeking to treat bacterial infections. Probiotics are beneficial microorganisms that may be directly ingested in food or as feed additives; they improve the intestinal microflora balance, enhance immunity, and ensure healthy growth. However, cat data are usually inferred from reports on dogs or humans; cat research remains preliminary in nature. Therefore, we here describe the current understanding of how probiotics improve cat health, facilitating the further development and application of probiotics for cats.
... This is consistent with observations from a study that used 16S rRNA gene sequencing and culture-dependent methods to survey the oral microbiomes of cats with FCGS and healthy cats [48]. Similarly, cats with tooth resorption have less diverse supragingival plaque microbiomes than healthy animals [49]. However, other studies report that cats with FCGS have more diverse microbiomes than healthy cats [11]. ...
... Our findings also mirror those from another study that reported that healthy cats had greater abundances of Moraxella, Bergeyella, Corynebacterium, Capnocytophaga, Actinobacillus, and Actinomyces compared with cats with gingivostomatitis [11,54]. Another study reported that the number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) for these same bacterial genera (Moraxella, Capnocytophaga, and Bergeyella) were slightly higher in healthy cats compared with cats with tooth resorption [49]. ...
Simple Summary
Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) remains a poorly understood clinical condition with significant impact on the quality of life of affected cats. An understanding of the pathogenesis of this inflammatory disease will enable the development of improved and targeted therapeutics beyond full-mouth extractions. Here, we collected sterile noninvasive plaque samples at ten distinct sites within the oral cavity in cats with FCGS (n = 12), healthy cats (n = 9), or cats with other oral conditions (n = 11). We used 16S rRNA gene sequencing (V1–V9) to profile bacteria in the oral microbiome. We found that the microbiomes of cats with FCGS were distinct from those of healthy cats at multiple oral sites, indicating that dysbiosis is present throughout the oral cavity. The microbiomes of cats varied depending on their oral diagnoses, confirming that the various dental diseases impact the microbiome in different ways. Lastly, microbiome data obtained from swabs of the oral cavity were similar to those obtained using endodontic paper point plaque samples, suggesting this approach as another valuable method of sampling. Given these additional insights, future studies can focus on targeted therapeutics so that extraction of healthy teeth will no longer be the standard of care for this challenging condition.
Abstract
Feline chronic gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is a chronic mucosal and gingival inflammatory disease in which pathogenesis remains unclear. Interactions between the host inflammatory process, the host immune response, and the oral microbiome are implicated in this pathogenesis. To begin to understand this disease and the impact of the microbiome to host inflammatory disease states, we collected sterile noninvasive plaque biofilm samples from ten distinct sites within the oral cavity in cats with stomatitis (n = 12), healthy cats (n = 9), and cats with tooth resorption or periodontitis (n = 11). Analysis of full-length 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the microbiomes of cats with FCGS presented marked dysbiosis at multiple oral sites. Additionally, microbiome beta diversity varied with oral condition, indicating that stomatitis, periodontitis, and/or tooth resorption influence the microbiome differently. Lastly, we found that the microbiomes of swabs taken from the oral cavity were comparable to those taken from plaque using endodontic paper points, validating this as another sampling method. Collectively, our work furthers our understanding of the dysbiosis and composition of bacteria in the oral microbiome in FCGS, with hopes of contributing to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this challenging condition in felines.
Feline odontoclastic resorptive lesion (FORL) is a common chronic inflammatory condition whose aetiopathogenesis remains unclear. FORL affects 20–75% of cats and causes excruciating pain and tooth loss. The purpose of this study was to evaluate chronic inflammation in FORL by assessing differences in Toll-like receptor (TLR) and cytokine transcripts in gingival tissues between diseased and healthy cats. Gingival tissue samples were collected from 14 healthy cats with no known clinical signs of oral disease and 41 cats with FORL. Levels of mRNA encoding TLR2, TLR3, TLR4, TLR7, TLR9 and the cytokines interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) was evaluated using quantitative real-time PCR. Statistical significance of the results was assessed using non-parametric tests. Levels of TLR and cytokine transcripts were upregulated in gingival tissue from cats with FORL as compared with healthy gingival tissue: TLR2, TLR3 and TLR9, p ≤ 0.001; TLR4 and TLR7, p ≤ 0.01; IFN-γ, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-1β and TNF-α, p ≤ 0.001). In conclusion, expression of TLR and both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were significantly increased, confirming an ongoing chronic inflammatory response to the microbiome in FORL. It is likely that dysbiosis of the oral microbiota in cats with FORL activates the innate immune response, leading to active inflammation that results in tooth resorption.
