Study Links Obesity, Oral Bacteria

Groundbreaking Research from the Forsyth Institute

Study Links Obesity, Oral Bacteria

Researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Forsyth Institute have discovered new links between specific oral bacteria and obesity according to the Journal of Dental Research.

The study found that the makeup of salivary bacteria in overweight women differs from that of those who are not overweight, leading researchers to suspect that oral bacteria may be contributing to the obesity epidemic.

Forsyth Institute researchers collected saliva samples from women with body mass indexes both in the overweight range and in the healthy weight range and found that more than 98% of the overweight women had a bacteria called Selenomonas noxia at levels greater than 1.05% of their total salivary bacteria. Women in the healthy weight range had little or no Selenomonas noxia in their salivary bacteria.

Researchers noted that the reasons for a relationship between obesity and oral bacteria are likely complex. The observed relationship may be circumstantial as being related to diet or opportunistic due to metabolic changes. In the next phase of this research, they plan to further examine this relationship by initially conducting a controlled cohort study to see if this initial observation can be reproduced. In addition, they hope to conduct longitudinal studies in children to see if oral infection relates to weight gain. Ultimately, the development of strategies to eliminate specific oral bacteria would be required to provide definitive evidence that certain oral bacteria may be responsible for weight gain.

This work was supported in part by Interleukin Genetics and a grant from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.

The Forsyth Institute is the world’s leading independent organization dedicated to scientific research and education in oral health and related biomedical sciences.