Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Chronic kidney disease (CKD), a progressive loss of renal function, can lead to serious complications if underdiagnosed. Many studies suggest that the oral microbiota plays important role in the health of the host; however, little is known about the association between the oral microbiota and CKD pathogenesis. METHODS: In this study, we surveyed the oral microbiota in saliva, the left and right molars, and the anterior mandibular lingual area from 77 participants (18 with and 59 without CKD), and tested their association with CKD to identify microbial features that may be predictive of CKD status. RESULTS: The overall oral microbiota composition significantly differed by oral locations and was associated with CKD status in saliva and anterior mandibular lingual samples. In CKD patients, we observed a significant enrichment of Neisseria and depletion of Veillonella in both sample types and a lower prevalence of Streptococcus in saliva after adjustment for other comorbidities. Furthermore, we detected a negative association of Neisseria and Streptococcus genera with the kidney function as measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate. Neisseria abundance also correlated with plasma interleukin-18 levels. CONCLUSION: We demonstrate the association of the oral microbiome with CKD and inflammatory kidney biomarkers, highlighting a potential role of the commensal bacteria in CKD pathogenesis. A better understanding of the interplay between the oral microbiota and CKD may help in the development of new strategies to identify at-risk individuals or to serve as a novel target for therapeutic intervention.