Oral Microbiome and Cognition Among Black Cancer Caregivers.
Irene Yang, Taqiyya Alford, Glenna Brewster and 4 others
PMID 39378356WHAT IT FOUND
In 31 Black cancer caregivers, oral microbiome diversity did not differ by cognition group, though 48 taxa were associated after controlling for education and race-related stress.
The pilot was underpowered for firm conclusions.
Key findings
01Cognitive status was not associated with oral microbiome alpha diversity, and beta diversity showed the normal and low cognition groups had similar overall composition.
02After controlling for education and individual race-related stress, 48 taxa belonging to 23 genera differentiated the two cognition groups.
03Participants with bachelor's degrees or higher were more likely to be in the normal cognition group, and the normal cognition group had higher individual race-related stress scores.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a pilot with 31 participants, and the authors state it was not powered to detect ecological differences between cognition groups. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that oral microbes caused cognitive changes. All participants self-reported Parkinson disease symptoms, and there was no non-Parkinson disease control group. Thirty-one samples were collected, one sequencing sample was excluded, and MoCA data were missing for two participants. The cognition groups were 12 normal-cognition and 16 low-cognition participants. The usual MoCA cut-off of 26 may misclassify Black individuals, and the study did not use a validated cut-off for this population. Saliva was used as a proxy for the subgingival microbiome closest to periodontal disease, and 16S sequencing limited taxon resolution.
Declared interests
No author conflict-of-interest statement is included in the article text. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that oral microbiome testing can identify cognitive impairment. Overall diversity did not differ between cognition groups, and the taxa finding was exploratory in a small pilot not powered to detect ecological differences.