Salivary microbiome in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia: altered composition and its association with prostate-specific antigen
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUNDS: Microbial dysbiosis in the gut and urine has been implicated in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in previous studies. Additionally, emerging evidence suggests that salivary dysbiosis is associated with various diseases and oral health conditions. Building on these findings, this study aimed to investigate whether BPH patients exhibit a distinct salivary microbiome. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We recruited a cohort of BPH patients (n = 50) and age- and BMI-matched healthy controls (HC; n = 50). Salivary samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were measured. RESULTS: Comparing the salivary microbial communities between BPH patients and HC revealed significant differences, with BPH patients exhibiting increased bacterial richness and diversity (FDR < 0.05). Further analysis identified 13 bacterial genera, including Clostridia-UCG-014, Oribacterium, and Filifactor, that were enriched in BPH patients. In contrast, 4 bacterial genera, such as Actinomyces, Lachnoanaerobaculum, and Rothia, were depleted in BPH patients (FDR < 0.05). Several bacterial genera showed potential as biomarkers for identifying BPH. Importantly, no correlation was observed between the bacterial community and PSA levels in BPH patients (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the salivary microbiome in BPH patients is dysbiotic, with altered richness, diversity, and specific taxonomic changes compared to healthy controls. Importantly, although prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are known to increase with prostate volume, our analysis found no significant association between the salivary microbiome and PSA levels in BPH patients. This suggests that while salivary dysbiosis is a feature of BPH, it does not appear to contribute directly to PSA dysregulation. Further research is needed to clarify the potential role of the salivary microbiome in BPH pathogenesis and its possible clinical applications.
Source: BMC Microbiology
Authors: Bin Zhang, Hao Guo, Zhou Li, Hao Lin, Junjie Zhi, Yifan Tang, Yifan Sun, Qiang Xia, Shiyu Wang, Peng Jiang, Chaoqun Gu, Shichao Wei, Yu Zhao, Zhi Li, Wei Guo, Yifeng Gu, Fengbao Gao, Fengping Liu, Yufan Wu, Ninghan Feng, Zhenming Xu, Weiguo Chen
Institutions: First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Wuxi No.2 People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Jiangnan University, Soochow University, First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University, State Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Zhejiang University, Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Kunshan, Nantong University, Wuxi People's Hospital
Language: English
Subfield: Periodontics
Field: Dentistry
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,990
OpenAlex ID: W4416599396