ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to investigate the compositional profiles and microbial shifts of oral microbiota during head-and-neck radiotherapy. Bioinformatic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing was performed to assess the diversity and variation of oral microbiota of irradiated patients. Eight patients with head and neck cancers were involved in this study. For each patient, supragingival plaque samples were collected at seven time points before and during radiotherapy. A total of 147,232 qualified sequences were obtained through pyrosequencing and bioinformatic analysis, representing 3,460 species level operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and 140 genus level taxa. Temporal variations were observed across different time points and supported by cluster analysis based on weighted UniFrac metrics. Moreover, the low evenness of oral microbial communities in relative abundance was revealed by Lorenz curves. This study contributed to a better understanding of the detailed characterization of oral bacterial diversity of irradiated patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Middle Aged , Actinomyces , Classification , Radiation Effects , Actinomycetaceae , Classification , Radiation Effects , Alcaligenaceae , Classification , Radiation Effects , Bacteria , Classification , Radiation Effects , Capnocytophaga , Classification , Radiation Effects , Carnobacteriaceae , Classification , Radiation Effects , Computational Biology , Dental Plaque , Microbiology , Follow-Up Studies , Gemella , Classification , Radiation Effects , Head and Neck Neoplasms , Radiotherapy , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing , Neisseria , Classification , Radiation Effects , Prevotella , Classification , Radiation Effects , Propionibacteriaceae , Classification , Radiation Effects , RNA, Bacterial , RNA, Ribosomal, 16S , Streptococcus , Classification , Radiation Effects , Veillonella , Classification , Radiation EffectsABSTRACT
The distinction of some particular forms of periapical area, involving diseases from regular periapical disease, is a matter of considerable importance when choosing a correct treatment. The aim of this study is to describe the differential diagnosis of periapical diseases from six rare cases in clinical practice. The six rare cases are examples of situations where it is difficult to make a differential diagnosis in clinical practice. By retrospective surveys on the clinical examination, radiographs and pathological results, six patients referred to endodontic treatment in our department were analyzed for the accuracy of diagnosis and therapy. The pathoses of the six cases included two atypical radical cysts, periapical cemental dysplasia, cemento-ossifying fibroma, thymus cancer metastasis in the periapical site and tuberculosis. This report indicates that endodontists should be cognizant of a few particular circumstances when clinically treating periapical diseases.