Abstract PR7: Lifestyle and dietary factors and antibody levels to oral bacteria in healthy individuals.
Authors: Michaud Dominique S. , Rubin Zachary , Izard Jacques , Riboli Elio , Bueno-De-Mesquita Bas 
Published: August 2013

Mounting evidence indicates that the oral microbiome plays a pivotal role in the onset of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, in addition to the well-established role in periodontal disease. Moreover, recent studies suggest the oral microbiome may also be involved carcinogenesis; periodontal disease has been linked to pancreatic and head and neck cancers. With the exception of Porphyromonas gingivalis, serum IgG antibodies to pathogenic or commensal oral bacteria do not correlate strongly with periodontal disease status or severity. In contrast, smoking has a strong impact on total IgG levels; studies have consistently shown that smokers have lower IgG levels to oral bacteria, suggesting that smoking suppresses the humoral immune response. High levels of systemic oxidative stress were strongly associated with lower total IgG levels in a large population study, after controlling for a large number of known cardiovascular risk factors. To date, no study has examined the relationship between dietary factors and serum IgG levels to oral bacteria. A few studies suggest that diet may influence oral bacteria; for example, coffee and wine consumption, which have strong anti-bacterial and anti-adhesive properties, have been associated with overall lower oral bacteria levels in plaque and saliva in humans. Understanding the relationship between lifestyle factors and antibodies to oral bacteria may provide new insights on the association between oral bacteria and chronic diseases. In this study, we examined the relationship between smoking, obesity, diabetes, physical activity, education and consumption of coffee, tea and alcohol in relation to antibodies of 25 oral bacteria. Lifestyle and dietary data were obtained at the time of blood sample collection in a large cohort study in Europe (EPIC). For this analysis, we measured antibodies levels on 25 oral bacteria in 397 healthy individuals using an immunoblot array. Combined total IgG levels were obtained by summing concentrations for all oral bacteria measured. IgG antibody levels were substantially lower among current and past smokers than never smokers, but did not vary by body mass index, diabetes, coffee, tea or alcohol consumption, after adjusting for smoking status. Combined total IgG levels were inversely associated with sex and education, after adjusting for smoking status. Our findings on smoking are consistent with previous studies and support the notion that smokers have a compromised humoral immune response. However, other major lifestyle factors known to be associated with inflammatory markers, including obesity and diabetes, were not significantly associated with antibody levels to a large number of oral bacteria.

This proffered talk is also presented as Poster 55.

Citation Format: Dominique S. Michaud, Zachary Rubin, Jacques Izard, Elio Riboli, Bas Bueno-De-Mesquita. Lifestyle and dietary factors and antibody levels to oral bacteria in healthy individuals. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Post-GWAS Horizons in Molecular Epidemiology: Digging Deeper into the Environment; 2012 Nov 11-14; Hollywood, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(11 Suppl):Abstract nr PR7.