Preterm birth is one of the leading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Periodontal disease is an independent risk factor for preterm birth. Previous meta-analyses, which mainly studied known oral pathogenic bacteria associated with preterm birth, did not confirm the association with a specific oral bacteria. There are few published studies about oral microbiome composition using the 16S rRNA method in preterm birth, and they have been conducted on a small number of pregnant women.
This study aimed to determine the characteristics of the oral microbiome using 16S rRNA V3–V4 sequencing in a Slovenian cohort of healthy pregnant women who delivered at term and to determine whether there is a difference in the diversity and richness of the oral microbiome between pregnant women with preterm birth compared to pregnant women who give birth at term. The dominant bacterial phyla were Firmicutes, Proteobacteria (Pseudomonadota), Bacteroidetes, Fusobacteria, and Actinobacteria. Although no difference in the diversity and richness of the oral microbiome in preterm and term birth was detected, an increased presence of individual bacterial genera, namely Prevotella, Capnocytophaga, and Veillonella, was shown in preterm compared to term birth.
In the second part of our study, we performed a global transcriptomic analysis of maternal peripheral blood using the RNA-sequencing method and tried to determine whether the microbiome profile is associated with the systemic response. We identified bacterial genera that caused the altered transcriptomic response of 26 genes.
Additional analyses on a more significant number of participants are needed to potentially identify previously unknown oral pathogenic organisms or perhaps to identify new markers for preterm birth that can be used in clinical practice.
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