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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oral. Health
Sec. Oral Health Promotion
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/froh.2025.1600090
This article is part of the Research TopicGenetic and Environmental Interactions in Oral Disease: Advancing Diagnostic and Therapeutic StrategiesView all 3 articles
"Comparative analysis of oral microbiome in saliva samples of oral leukoplakia, proliferative leukoplakia and oral squamous cell carcinoma"
Provisionally accepted- 1University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
- 2Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD), Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- 3University of Salerno, Fisciano, Campania, Italy
- 4Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
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Background: Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs), including conventional leukoplakia (OL) and proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL), have distinct risks of progression to oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). A role of the oral microbiome in this transformation is increasingly recognized, but its contribution remains unclear.Objective: This study aimed to analyze and compare the oral microbiota in patients with OL, PVL, and OSCC using 16S rRNA gene sequencing of saliva samples to identify microbial signatures associated with disease progression and to uncover potential biomarkers that would justify an aggressive treatment of OPMDs.Methods: Sixty-six subjects with OPMDs were enrolled, comprising OL (n=10), PVL (n=28), and OSCC (n=28). Saliva samples were collected, and DNA was extracted. The V3-V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Bioinformatic analyses, including diversity assessments and taxonomic classification with the SILVA v138 database, were performed using QIIME2. Alpha diversity was evaluated with Chao1, Shannon, and Simpson indices, while beta diversity was assessed using Bray-Curtis and Jaccard distances.Results: PVL exhibited the highest species richness, followed by OL, with OSCC showing the lowest diversity. While alpha diversity differences among the groups were not statistically significant (p > 0.05), beta diversity revealed distinct microbial community structures between OL and both PVL and OSCC (p < 0.05), but not between PVL and OSCC. At the phylum level, Firmicutes predominated across all groups, with significantly higher Actinobacteriota levels in OL (p = 0.002).
Keywords: oral microbiome, Oral leukoplakia, Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia, oral squamous cell carcinoma, 16S rRNA sequencing, Microbial Diversity, Dysbiosis, biomarkers
Received: 25 Mar 2025; Accepted: 10 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Intini, Balsells, Bagan, Fortuna, Sroussi and Bagan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Rossella Intini, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
Sol Balsells, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute (IRSJD), Esplugues de Llobregat, 08950, Spain
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