About this Research Topic
The human microbiome is made of rich and diverse microbial communities living in harmony with the host through complex interactions. Environmental changes within their micro-habitats may have dire consequences and trigger dysbiotic events that lead to disease.
The oral cavity can be considered a gateway to the whole body. There is increasing evidence of the association between the oral microbiota and systemic health status. Oral dysbiosis can lead to diseases such as caries, gingivitis and periodontitis, which in turn may contribute to disruptions at other body sites. State-of-the-art Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies enable us to study this complex microbe-host association.
A better understanding of the environmental factors and biological mechanisms (of the complex microbe-microbe and host-microbiome interactions) will help decipher the etiopathogenesis of dysbiosis, and devise preventative measures through microbiome modulation to improve overall health in the population.
This Research Topic focuses on clinical and/or in vitro studies, including e.g. original research, perspectives, minireviews, reviews, commentaries and opinion papers, which investigate and discuss at least one of the following:
1) Oral microbiota composition and functions of individuals with systemic comorbidities (e.g. dementia, obesity, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, gut or skin diseases).
2) Strategies to exploit microbial and/or host data including those in combination with proteomics and metabolomics, for diagnostic and prevention purposes.
3) Use of pre/probiotics and/or other microbiome modulation methods for maintaining oral health and preventing diseases.
4) Possible impact of oral treatments (e.g. caries, periodontal treatments) and/or oral microbiome modulation on systemic status (e.g. in healthy individuals or in individuals with systemic comorbidities).
5) Use of currently available NGS dataset for oral or systemic disease modelling and predictions.
6) Critical views on data processing methods and data analysis of microbiome studies.
Keywords: NGS, oral microbiome, biofilms, dysbiosis, health, systemic diseases
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