Oral microbiomes of patients with infective endocarditis (IE): a comparative pilot study of IE patients, patients at risk for IE and healthy controls

BACKGROUND: Infective endocarditis (IE) is an uncommon disease with high morbidity and mortality rates, which often develops from oral bacterial species entering circulation. OBJECTIVE: We compared oral microbiome profiles of three groups: IE patients (N 9 patients; n = 27 samples), disease controls at risk for IE (N = 28; n = 84), and healthy controls (N = 37; n = 111). Bacterial species in IE patients’ blood cultures were identified for comparison with matched oral samples. DESIGN: Oral microbiome profiles were obtained from buccal mucosa, saliva, and tongue samples for all three groups and from sub- and supra-gingival plaque samples of the IE group (N = 9; n = 16) and disease controls (N = 28; n = 54). Alpha- and beta-diversities were determined based on relative abundance data. Discriminative species were identified by LEfSe, post hoc Mann-Whitney, and ROC analyses. Identity of the bacterial species in IE patients’ blood cultures was confirmed by 16S-rRNA gene Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: Alpha- and beta-diversities differed between groups. Discriminative IE-associated species were identified, e.g. Haemophilus parainfluenzae and Streptococcus sanguinis. Two blood isolates were Staphylococcus aureus, also identified in one matched saliva sample. Streptococcus mutans was present in one patient’s plaque samples and blood culture. CONCLUSIONS: Oral microbiomes of IE, non-IE disease controls, and healthy controls differed significantly. A better understanding of IE-related bacterial-host interactions is warranted.