Comparison of Oral Microbiome in Stable vs Declining Kidney Function in Renal Transplant Recipients

J. Wu¹, A. Muthusamy², G. Al-Ghalith³, B. Wu⁴, B. Guo⁴, W. Guan⁴, D. Knights³, W. Oetting⁵, D. Schladt², R. Remmel⁵, P. Jacobson⁵, A. K. Sharma⁶, A. Matas⁷, A. Israni¹, D. Skaar⁸

¹Nephrology, Hennepin Healthcare, Minneapolis, MN, ²Hennepin Health Research Institute, Minneapolis, MN, ³Computer Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, ⁴Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, ⁵Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, ⁶Animal Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, ⁷Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, ⁸Denistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Meeting: 2019 American Transplant Congress

Abstract number: C52

Keywords: Graft function

Session Information

Session Name: Poster Session C: Kidney Complications: Late Graft Failure

Session Type: Poster Session

Date: Monday, June 3, 2019

Session Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Presentation Time: 6:00pm-7:00pm

Location: Hall C & D

*Purpose: Transplantation causes dysbiosis of the oral microbiome of renal transplant recipients and has been correlated with worse allograft outcomes. We hypothesize that there are identifiable dental plaque pathogens in transplant recipients with declining kidney function (DKF) compared with those with stable kidney function (SKF). We also compared transplant subjects’ subgingival plaque, oral soft tissue, and nasal microbiomes to those of healthy subjects in the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) dataset.

*Methods: We assessed 16S rRNA microbial gene sequences from multiple sites (subgingival plaque, oral soft tissue, nasal) in 20 renal transplant recipients with either SKF (baseline SCr) or DKF (sustained SCr increase ≥25% from baseline). All transplant subjects were from the DeKAF Genomics studies. Kernel RV coefficient (KRV) testing was used to evaluate distribution difference between OTUs.

*Results: In 11 cases of DKF, genus Tannerella was more prevalent than in 9 transplants with SKF (KRV test; p=0.046, not significant when FDR 0.05), identified as Tannerella forsythia by oligotyping. Comparing plaque samples of 20 transplant recipients to 30 healthy subjects, there is a significant difference in the plaque of healthy vs transplanted patients (KRV test; p=1.28×10^-12). In oral soft tissue and nasal samples, genera Cellulosimicrobium and Pseudomonas are detectable in transplant patients but not in healthy subjects (Wilcox, p<0.0001).

*Conclusions: There are distinct signatures in the plaque of renal transplant recipients compared to healthy subjects. There is a significant prevalence of Cellulosimicrobium and Pseudomonas in the oral and nasal samples of transplant vs healthy subjects.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Wu J, Muthusamy A, Al-Ghalith G, Wu B, Guo B, Guan W, Knights D, Oetting W, Schladt D, Remmel R, Jacobson P, Sharma AK, Matas A, Israni A, Skaar D. Comparison of Oral Microbiome in Stable vs Declining Kidney Function in Renal Transplant Recipients [abstract]. Am J Transplant. 2019; 19 (suppl 3). https://atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/comparison-of-oral-microbiome-in-stable-vs-declining-kidney-function-in-renal-transplant-recipients/. Accessed May 18, 2025.

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