Oral <i>Eikenella</i> as a potential new biomarker of symptomatic carotid atherosclerosis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Oral microbiota dysbiosis is linked to cardiovascular disease, and oral pathogens have been detected in atherosclerotic plaques. We aimed to investigate the relationship between the oral microbiota and carotid atherosclerosis, and the occurrence of oral pathogens in plaques.

Patients and methods

Oral swab and saliva samples from patients with severe carotid atherosclerosis (≥50% stenosis) were compared with those from controls. The oral microbiome was analyzed by 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing targeting the V3‒V4 region. Carotid plaques were investigated for five oral bacterial species by qRT-PCR.

Results

Compared with controls, patients exhibited different inter-individual (beta) diversity (r = 0.02, p = 0.002), reduced intra-individual (alph

SUBMITTER: Sto K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12798661 | biostudies-literature | 2026

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature