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4d ago

Oral Microbiome Diversity Tied to Depression Risk

The finding suggests saliva-based microbial profiles may inform future diagnostics for mood disorders

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The researchers found that people with less diversity in their oral microbiomes were more likely to have symptoms of depression. Credit: Neuroscience News
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Overview

  • Researchers analyzed saliva samples and depression questionnaires from over 15,000 US adults in the 2009–2012 NHANES dataset
  • Lower diversity of mouth microbes was associated with higher scores on a standardized depression scale
  • Smoking, alcohol consumption and dental care habits were found to influence the strength of the microbiome-depression link
  • Researchers emphasize that it remains unclear whether oral microbial changes drive depression or result from behavioral and physiological factors of the disorder
  • The authors propose that microbial diversity profiling could serve as a noninvasive biomarker for depression pending further research