Altered oral microbiota in chronic hepatitis B patients with different tongue coatings

AIM: To elucidate tongue coating microbiota and metabolic differences in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with yellow or white tongue coatings. METHODS: Tongue coating samples were collected from 53 CHB patients (28 CHB yellow tongue coating patients and 25 CHB white tongue coating patients) and 22 healthy controls. Microbial DNA was extracted from the tongue samples, and the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene V3 region was amplified from all samples and sequenced with the Ion Torrent PGM™ sequencing platform according to the standard protocols. The metabolites in the tongue coatings were evaluated using a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) platform. Statistical analyses were then performed. At the family level, the abundance of Neisseriaceae in the yellow tongue patients was positively correlated with the HBV-DNA level but negatively correlated with the S-adenosyl-L-methionine level. CONCLUSION: This research illustrates specific clinical features and bacterial structures in CHB patients with different tongue coatings, which facilitates understanding of the traditional tongue diagnosis.