Excessive and moderate alcohol consumption can influence the composition of the oral microbiome, according to results of a study published in the journal Microbiome. These findings may have implications for better understanding the potential role that oral bacteria play in alcohol-related disease.
Researchers conducted a study with 1,044 participants aged 55 to 87, with no medical history and in good health at the start of the scans. Saliva samples were taken and volunteers had to provide information about their alcohol consumption.
The oral microbiome protects health
Over 700 different bacterial species colonize the human oral cavity, known collectively as the oral microbiome. This oral microbiota plays an important role in human health, particularly in the immune response, the metabolism of carcinogens and the digestion of nutrients. Scientific data indicates that the imbalance of the oral microbiota is linked to local oral diseases, such as periodontitis and dental caries and potentially to systemic diseases, including gastrointestinal cancers and diseases cardiovascular. However, little is known about exogenous exposures that cause dysbiosis (imbalance) of the oral microbiota.
Alcohol alters the microbiome
The results of the study showed that in all consumers ofalcoholmoderate or not, a high development of harmful bacteria (Bacteroidales, Actinomycetes and Neisseria) and a decrease in good bacteria of the Lactobacillales type (used in probiotic products) have been observed.
“Our research clearly shows that alcohol does not help maintain a good balance of oral microbes. This would explain why alcohol, like the tobaccocauses changes already associated with cancer and chronic diseasessaid Jiyoung Ahn, study author and epidemiologist,
“The modification of the microbiome can be caused by the acids present in alcoholic beverages, which make the oral environment hostile to the development of good bacteria or by the accumulation of toxins in the mouth, caused by the transformation of alcohol into ethanal by an enzyme, promotes the production of bad bacteria, such as those of the Neisseria type”, explains Jiyoung Ahn.
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