Integrated salivary microbiome and metabolome profiling reveals ecological and functional alterations in severe early childhood caries.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Early childhood caries (ECC), particularly severe early childhood caries (S-ECC), remains a prevalent chronic disease, significantly affecting children's health and quality of life. Despite extensive research, the detailed ecological and metabolic shifts underlying S-ECC pathogenesis are still poorly characterized. Integrating microbial and metabolic profiling of saliva may provide crucial insights and identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Methods

We performed high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted metabolomics to comprehensively profile the salivary microbiome and metabolome in children with S-ECC (n = 30) compared to caries-free (CF) controls (n = 30). Differential microbial taxa and metabolites were identified, and their functional

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12798063 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature