Preliminary characterization of the oral microbiota of Chinese adults with and without gingivitis.

BACKGROUND: Microbial communities inhabiting human mouth are associated with oral health and disease. Previous studies have indicated the general prevalence of adult gingivitis in China to be high. The aim of this study was to characterize in depth the oral microbiota of Chinese adults with or without gingivitis, by defining the microbial phylogenetic diversity and community-structure using highly paralleled pyrosequencing. METHODS: Six non-smoking Chinese, three with and three without gingivitis (age range 21-39 years, 4 females and 2 males) were enrolled in the present cross-sectional study. Gingival parameters of inflammation and bleeding on probing were characterized by a clinician using the Mazza Gingival Index (MGI). Plaque (sampled separately from four different oral sites) and salivary samples were obtained from each subject. Sequences and relative abundance of the bacterial 16 S rDNA PCR-amplicons were determined via pyrosequencing that produced 400 bp-long reads. The sequence data were analyzed via a computational pipeline customized for human oral microbiome analyses. Furthermore, the relative abundances of selected microbial groups were validated using quantitative PCR. RESULTS: The oral microbiomes from gingivitis and healthy subjects could be distinguished based on the distinct community structures of plaque microbiomes, but not the salivary microbiomes. Contributions of community members to community structure divergence were statistically accessed at the phylum, genus and species-like levels. Eight predominant taxa were found associated with gingivitis: TM7, Leptotrichia, Selenomonas, Streptococcus, Veillonella, Prevotella, Lautropia, and Haemophilus. Furthermore, 98 species-level OTUs were identified to be gingivitis-associated, which provided microbial features of gingivitis at a species resolution. Finally, for the two selected genera Streptococcus and Fusobacterium, Real-Time PCR based quantification of relative bacterial abundance validated the pyrosequencing-based results. CONCLUSIONS: This methods study suggests that oral samples from this patient population of gingivitis can be characterized via plaque microbiome by pyrosequencing the 16 S rDNA genes. Further studies that characterize serial samples from subjects (longitudinal study design) with a larger population size may provide insight into the temporal and ecological features of oral microbial communities in clinically-defined states of gingivitis.

Hyperparathyroidism in pregnancy.

Hyperparathyroidism is a rare disease during pregnancy, which has increased risks, including miscarriage and fetal growth restriction. However, the diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism is frequently not recognised or delayed as symptoms are non-specific and calcium is not routinely measured. With a thorough medical history and clinical suspicion, early diagnosis and treatment can reduce the risk of some pregnancy complications. A 35-year-old woman presented at 13/40 with hyperemesis gravidarum. She had elevated serum calcium and a parathyroid lesion on ultrasound. She underwent a parathyroidectomy with rapid normalisation of her calcium. Histopathology confirmed a parafibromin-deficient parathyroid tumour, suggestive of hyperparathyroidism jaw tumour syndrome. At 30/40, she presented with pre-eclampsia (hypertension, hyper-reflexia, proteinuria and intrauterine growth restriction) and had a caesarean section at 30+1/40, delivering a male infant, 897 g (fifth percentile). She had a prior 12-month history of chronic constipation and nephrolithiasis but was not investigated further despite elevated calcium (2.82 mmol/L).

Predictive modeling of gingivitis severity and susceptibility via oral microbiota.

Predictive modeling of human disease based on the microbiota holds great potential yet remains challenging. Here, 50 adults underwent controlled transitions from naturally occurring gingivitis, to healthy gingivae (baseline), and to experimental gingivitis (EG). In diseased plaque microbiota, 27 bacterial genera changed in relative abundance and functional genes including 33 flagellar biosynthesis-related groups were enriched. Plaque microbiota structure exhibited a continuous gradient along the first principal component, reflecting transition from healthy to diseased states, which correlated with Mazza Gingival Index. We identified two host types with distinct gingivitis sensitivity. Our proposed microbial indices of gingivitis classified host types with 74% reliability, and, when tested on another 41-member cohort, distinguished healthy from diseased individuals with 95% accuracy. Furthermore, the state of the microbiota in naturally occurring gingivitis predicted the microbiota state and severity of subsequent EG (but not the state of the microbiota during the healthy baseline period). Because the effect of disease is greater than interpersonal variation in plaque, in contrast to the gut, plaque microbiota may provide advantages in predictive modeling of oral diseases.

Intravaginal and in vitro temperature changes with tampons of differing composition and absorbency.

Vaginal tampons are Class II medical devices used by women to manage menstruation. The purpose of this study was to investigate intravaginal temperature changes with simulated and actual menstrual tampon use. Tampons (with varying absorbent compositions) embedded with a thermocouple sensor were used to study temperature effects in vitro in a model of the vagina (condom placed in a hollow glass tube, jacketed in a 37 degrees C water bath, and dosed with human menses to fluid saturation) and clinically during menstrual tampon wear under controlled conditions (up to 8 h in a stationary, supine position). Elevations in the temperature of the tampon core occurred upon menses fluid acquisition both in vitro and clinically. Temperature profile characteristics varied from a transient spike with commercial cotton-rayon blend tampons of two different absorbencies to a small but sustained rise (> or =6 h) with a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-containing prototype. On the basis of the results from this study, fluid absorption by tampons generates an exothermic event whose characteristics vary with tampon design and composition. We speculate the small, sustained increased in tampon temperature noted during this study may enhance the production of a bacterial exotoxin associated with tampons composed of CMC.