Genetic variants in taste genes play a role in oral microbial composition and severe early childhood caries
Vivianne Cruz de Jesus,
Betty-Anne Mittermuller,
Pingzhao Hu,
Robert J. Schroth,
Prashen Chelikani
Affiliations
Vivianne Cruz de Jesus
Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Department of Oral Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Betty-Anne Mittermuller
Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Department of Oral Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Preventive Dental Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Pingzhao Hu
Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, Western University, London, ON, Canada
Robert J. Schroth
Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Department of Oral Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Preventive Dental Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Prashen Chelikani
Manitoba Chemosensory Biology Research Group, Department of Oral Biology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba (CHRIM), Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada; Corresponding author
Summary: Severe early childhood caries (S-ECC) is a multifactorial disease with strong evidence of genetic inheritance. Previous studies suggest that variants in taste genes are associated with dental caries due to the role of taste proteins in mediating taste preferences, oral innate immunity, and important host-microbial interactions. However, few taste genes have been investigated in caries studies. Therefore, the associations of genetic variants in sweet, bitter, umami, salt, sour, carbonation, and fat taste-related genes with S-ECC and plaque microbial composition (16S and ITS1 rRNA sequencing) were evaluated. The results showed that sixteen variants in seven taste genes (SCNN1D, CA6, TAS2R3, OTOP1, TAS2R5, TAS2R60, and TAS2R4) were associated with S-ECC. Twenty-one variants in twelve taste genes were correlated with relative abundances of bacteria or fungi. These results suggest that S-ECC risk and composition of the plaque microbiome can be partially influenced by genetic variants in genes related to taste sensation.
