Oral and Fecal Microbiota in Lynch Syndrome

Background: The role of microbiota in Lynch syndrome (LS) is still under debate. We compared oral and fecal microbiota of LS saliva and stool samples with normal healthy controls (NHC). Methods: Total DNA was purified from feces and saliva to amplify the V3-V4 region of the 16s rRNA gene. Sequences with a high-quality score and length >250 bp were used for taxonomic analysis with QIIME software. Results: Compared to NHC, LS fecal samples demonstrated a statistically significant increase of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria and a significant decrease of Firmicutes at the phylum level and of Ruminococcaceae at the family level. Moreover, LS oral samples exhibited a statistically significant increase of Veillonellaceae and Leptotrichiaceae and a statistically significant decrease of Pasteurellaceae. A beta-diversity index allowed differentiation of the two groups. Conclusions: A peculiar microbial signature is associated with LS, similar to that of sporadic colorectal cancer and Crohn's disease. These data suggest a possible role of proinflammatory bacteria in tumor development in a condition of genetic predisposition, such as LS.