Composition of subgingival microbiota associated with periodontitis and diagnosis of malignancy A cross-sectional study

Periodontitis is one of the most prevalent infectious conditions, affecting between 25 and 40 percent of the adult population. Chronic systemic low grade inflammation is involved in numerous diseases, and it is also known that long lasting inflammation and chronic infections predispose one to cancer. Here, we characterized and compared the subgingival microbiota associated with periodontitis and diagnosis of malignancy in a longitudinal 10 year follow up study. The study was conducted on 50 patients with periodontitis and 40 periodontally healthy individuals. The recorded clinical oral health parameters were periodontal attachment loss, bleeding on probing, gingival index, probing depth, and plaque index. Subgingival plaque was collected from each participant, from which DNA was extracted, and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing performed.