Salivary Microbiota Is Significantly Less Diverse in Patients with Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Compared to Healthy Controls: Preliminary Results

Abstract

Background: Because of the important role in regulating the immune system, increasing evidence suggests a possible implication of gut microbiota in Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Although the oral cavity is the first site of contact between microbiota and the immune system, the association between salivary microbiota and CSU has not yet been reported. Objective: This case-control study aimed to compare differences in salivary microbiota between CSU patients and healthy controls (HC). Twenty-three participants—13 patients with CSU and 10 HC were enrolled; salivary microbiota was determined by molecular approach targeting 16S ribosomal RNA. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis was performed. Results: Alpha diversity of salivary microbiota in CSU patients was significantly reduced compared to HC, resulting in alteration of the community composition. Species richness determined via the Shannon index was significantly reduced in the CSU group. Conclusion: Dysbiosis of salivary microbiota may contribute to a dysregulated immune system in the development of CSU. To our knowledge, this was the first study that reported an alteration in salivary microbiota composition in CSU patients.

Keywords

• salivary microbiota
• urticaria
• chronic spontaneous urticaria
• 16S rRNA gene
• biodiversity
• oral-gut axis