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Original Article

Entamoeba gingivalis: epidemiology, genetic diversity and association with oral microbiota signatures in North Eastern Tanzania

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Article: 1924598 | Received 09 Mar 2021, Accepted 28 Apr 2021, Published online: 19 May 2021
 

ABSTRACT

Background

Entamoeba gingivalis has been associated with periodontal diseases. Baseline data from the background population, which could help delimit the role of the parasite in health and disease, remain limited.

Objective

To describe epidemiological features, genetic diversity, and associations with oral microbiome signatures of E. gingivalis colonisation in Tanzanians with non-oral/non-dental diseases.

Methods

DNAs from 92 oral washings from 52 participants were subject to metabarcoding of ribosomal genes. DNA sequences were identified to genus level and submitted to oral microbiota diversity analyses.

Results

Sixteen (31%) of the 52 study participants were E. gingivalis-positive, with no difference in positivity rate according to gender or age. Only one subtype (ST1) was found. Individuals testing positive for E. gingivalis had higher oral microbiota alpha diversity than those testing negative (P = 0.03). Eight of the top-ten most common bacterial genera were shared between the two groups (Alloprevotella, Fusobacterium, Gemella, Haemophilus, Neisseria, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Streptococcus, and Veillonella). Meanwhile, E. gingivalis carriers and non-carriers were more likely to have Aggregatibacter and Rothia, respectively, among the top-ten most common genera.

Conclusion

About one third of the cohort carried E. gingivalis ST1, and carriers had higher oral microbiome diversity and were more predominantly colonized by Aggregatibacter.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to all the study volunteers that participated in the study and would also like to thank Dr Geofrey Makenga and Mr Rashid Madebe (NIMR) for their assistance during the study. We would like to thank the technicians in the Department of Bacteria, Parasites and Fungi for excellent technical assistance.

Availability of data

The demographic data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, CRS. The data are not publicly available due to restrictions in place serving not to compromise the privacy of the research participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data deposition

One DNA sequence was uploaded to the NCBI database (MW676260). A repository of the E. gingivalis partial SSU rDNA sequences obtained in the study is available at https://github.com/Entamoeba/Tanz_mouthwash

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Swedish Research Council Formas under Grant 2017-00100 as part of the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) call ‘Transmission Dynamics’; Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas (Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development) [2017-00100].