Early-life adversity leaves its imprint on the oral microbiome for more than 20 years and is associated with long-term immune changes

Eleftheria G. Charalambous, Sophie B. Mériaux, Pauline Guebels, Claude P. Muller, Fleur A.D. Leenen, Martha M.C. Elwenspoek, Ines Thiele, Johannes Hertel, Jonathan D. Turner*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

18 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The early-life microbiome (ELM) interacts with the psychosocial environment, in partic-ular during early-life adversity (ELA), defining life-long health trajectories. The ELM also plays a significant role in the maturation of the immune system. We hypothesised that, in this context, the resilience of the oral microbiomes, despite being composed of diverse and distinct communities, allows them to retain an imprint of the early environment. Using 16S amplicon sequencing on the EpiPath cohort, we demonstrate that ELA leaves an imprint on both the salivary and buccal oral microbiome 24 years after exposure to adversity. Furthermore, the changes in both communities were associated with increased activation, maturation, and senescence of both innate and adaptive immune cells, although the interaction was partly dependent on prior herpesviridae exposure and current smoking. Our data suggest the presence of multiple links between ELA, Immunosenescence, and cytotoxicity that occur through long-term changes in the microbiome.

Original languageEnglish
Article number12682
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume22
Issue number23
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 24 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • Bacterial community
  • Developmental origins of health and disease
  • Early experience
  • Early-life adversity
  • Host-microbe interactions
  • Immune system
  • Microbiome
  • Oral microbiome

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