Lasting Gammaproteobacteria profile changes characterized hematological cancer patients who developed oral mucositis following conditioning therapy

Abstract

Background Oral mucositis (OM) is a common side effect of conditioning therapy implemented before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The role of oral microbiome in OM is not fully elucidated. Objective To determine oral microbiome profile changes post-conditioning in HSCT patients who developed moderate OM, or mild to no OM. Design Patient groups were: Muc0-1 with OM-score = 0–1 (43 paired samples) and Muc2 with WHO OM-score = 2 (36 paired samples). Bacterial DNA was isolated from oral samples (saliva, swabs of buccal mucosa, tongue, and supragingival plaque) at pre-conditioning (T0), post-conditioning mucositis onset (TMuc), and one-year post-conditioning (TYear). 16S-rRNA gene next-generation sequencing was used to determine the relative abundance (RA) of >700 oral species. Alpha-diversity, beta-diversity and linear discriminant analyses (LDA) were performed Muc2 versus Muc0-1. Results Muc2 oral microbiome alpha- and beta-diversity differed between T0 and TMuc. Muc2 alpha-diversity and Muc0-1 beta-diversity did not differ between T0 and TYear. T0 to TMuc LDA scores were significant in Muc2 for Gammaproteobacteria. For Muc2 patients, the average RA decreased for Haemophilus parainfluenza, a species known as mucosal surfaces protector, but increased for Escherichia-Shigella genera. Conclusions Post-conditioning OM might contribute to long-term oral microbiome changes affecting Gammaproteobacteria, in HSCT patients.

Keywords

• mucosal immunity
• cancer biology
• bacteria
• hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
• transplantation conditioning
• hematologic neoplasms