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Primary Submission Category: Biomarkers or biological pathways
The Salivary Microbiome and Cognitive Function
Authors: Rob Warren, Ryan Demmer,
Presenting Author: Rob Warren*
BACKGROUND: We demonstrate the feasibility of oral microbiome assessments from saliva collections intended for human genetic studies and explore the relationship between oral microbiota and midlife cognitive function. METHODS: Data are from the High School and Beyond (HS&B:80) cohort study, which has followed a nationally representative sample of ~26,830 people from high school in 1980 through midlife in 2021. HS&B:80 data from the 1980s include information about educational contexts, opportunities, and outcomes; early life circumstances; and demographic backgrounds. Data from 5,878 participants in 2021 (when most were 56 to 58 years old) include salivary microbiome measures, blood biomarkers of ADRD risk, and multiple survey-based measures of cognitive functioning. Genomic DNA was extracted following the protocol and reagents provided in the FlexStar Saliva DNA Extraction Kit 4. Primer sequences targeting the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene were acquired from IDT. Taxonomic assignments were made using the Human Oral Microbiome Database. The Shannon Index (SI) was calculated to represent alpha diversity. Regression models assessed the relationship between increases in SI and change in cognitive function. RESULTS: The mean(SD) cognitive score and SI were 0.1(0.9) and 2.9(0.5). Overall mean proportion of major phyla were Firmicutes (32.7%), Bacteroidetes (27.3%), and Proteobacteria (21.8%). A 1 SD increase in SI was associated with a 0.04 unit difference in standardized cognitive score (Beta-estimate 0.04 [0.02, 0.07]). CONCLUSION: Salivary microbiome assessments from human saliva collected for the primary purpose of human genetic studies is feasible. Adverse salivary microbiome diversity profiles were associated with decreased cognitive function.