iScience (Jan 2023)
Sex differences in the oral microbiome, host traits, and their causal relationships
- Xiaomin Liu,
- Xin Tong,
- Zhuye Jie,
- Jie Zhu,
- Liu Tian,
- Qiang Sun,
- Yanmei Ju,
- Leying Zou,
- Haorong Lu,
- Xuemei Qiu,
- Qiang Li,
- Yunli Liao,
- Heng Lian,
- Yong Zuo,
- Xiaomin Chen,
- Weiqiao Rao,
- Yan Ren,
- Yuan Wang,
- Jin Zi,
- Rong Wang,
- Xun Xu,
- Huanming Yang,
- Jian Wang,
- Yang Zong,
- Weibin Liu,
- Yong Hou,
- Xin Jin,
- Liang Xiao,
- Karsten Kristiansen,
- Huijue Jia,
- Tao Zhang
Affiliations
- Xiaomin Liu
- College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China; BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Xin Tong
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Zhuye Jie
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 13, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
- Jie Zhu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Liu Tian
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Qiang Sun
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 1Z5, Canada
- Yanmei Ju
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Leying Zou
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Haorong Lu
- China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China
- Xuemei Qiu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Qiang Li
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Yunli Liao
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Heng Lian
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Yong Zuo
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Xiaomin Chen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Weiqiao Rao
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Yan Ren
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Yuan Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Jin Zi
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Rong Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Xun Xu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Huanming Yang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao 266555, China; James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Jian Wang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; BGI-Qingdao, BGI-Shenzhen, Qingdao 266555, China; James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Hangzhou 310058, China
- Yang Zong
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Weibin Liu
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Yong Hou
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Xin Jin
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Liang Xiao
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China
- Karsten Kristiansen
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 13, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Corresponding author
- Huijue Jia
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518120, China; Corresponding author
- Tao Zhang
- BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518083, China; Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 13, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark; Corresponding author
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 26,
no. 1
p. 105839
Abstract
Summary: The oral microbiome has been implicated in a growing number of diseases; however, determinants of the oral microbiome and their roles remain elusive. Here, we investigated the oral (saliva and tongue dorsum) metagenome, the whole genome, and other omics data in a total of 4,478 individuals and demonstrated that the oral microbiome composition and its major contributing host factors significantly differed between sexes. We thus conducted a sex-stratified metagenome-genome-wide-association study (M-GWAS) and identified 11 differential genetic associations with the oral microbiome (psex-difference < 5 × 10−8). Furthermore, we performed sex-stratified Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses and identified abundant causalities between the oral microbiome and serum metabolites. Notably, sex-specific microbes-hormonal interactions explained the mostly observed sex hormones differences such as the significant causalities enrichments for aldosterone in females and androstenedione in males. These findings illustrate the necessity of sex stratification and deepen our understanding of the interplay between the oral microbiome and serum metabolites.