Enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolizing microorganisms on the oral mucosa of tobacco users.

ABSTRACT: Certain soil microbes resist and metabolize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The same is true for a subset of skin microbes. In the human mouth, oral microbes have the potential to oxidize tobacco PAHs, thereby increasing these chemicals' ability to cause cancer of adjacent epithelium. We hypothesized that we could identify, in smokers, the oral mucosal microbes that can metabolize PAH. We isolated bacteria and fungi that survived long-term in minimal media with PAHs as the sole carbon source, under aerobic conditions, from the oral mucosa in 17 of 26 smokers and two of 14 nonsmokers. Of bacteria genera that survived harsh PAH exposure in vitro, most were found at trace levels, except for Staphylococcus, Actinomyces, and Kingella, which were more abundan

SUBMITTER: Tao L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10771095 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature