Interactions between taste and oral microbiome: mechanisms and implications for oral and systemic diseases

Background The oral microbiome is a complex microbial ecosystem that contributes to oral and systemic health. Emerging evidence suggests a bidirectional interaction between oral microbiota and taste, although its underlying mechanisms and disease implications remain incompletely understood.Objective This review aims to summarize current knowledge regarding the interactions between the oral microbiome and taste, elucidate the potential mechanisms involved, and discuss their relevance to human diseases.Design Recent advances in clinical and experimental studies were reviewed, focusing on microbial metabolism, immunoinflammatory regulation, taste receptor modulation, and microbial-host interactions.Results Oral microorganisms may influence taste perception through metabolite production, inflammatory pathways, alteration of taste receptor expression, and other mechanisms such as physical barriers. Conversely, taste perception and taste receptors can regulate microbial colonization by shaping dietary behaviors and local immune responses. These interactions may contribute to the development and progression of oral diseases, extraoral inflammatory diseases, cardiometabolic disorders, cancer, and neurodegenerative conditions.Conclusions The taste-oral microbiome axis represents an emerging regulatory network linking microbial ecology, sensory function, and disease pathogenesis. Further longitudinal and mechanistic studies are required to clarify causal relationships and explore microbiome-targeted therapeutic strategies.