Research in the dental field has been focusing in recent years on the importance of the oral microbiome and on the health consequences of its alteration; Recent studies have made it clear that alcohol consumption leads to a modification of the oral microbiome and very serious consequences for the organism.
Alcohol and the development of pathogenic bacteria
The habitual consumption of alcohol increases the presence in the oral cavity of pathogenic bacteria, precisely because it generates the alteration of the oral microbiome.
Pathogenic bacteria are in turn responsible for an increased likelihood of developing cancers of the head, neck and digestive tract.
Excessive alcohol consumption and microbiome alteration: the research
The research of Jiyoung Ahn, a scholar at the head of a team of scientists at the Perlmutter Cancer Center of Nyu Langone Health in New York City, was recently published in the scientific journal Microbiome.
The research group deals specifically with the links between the human microbiome and neoplastic diseases.
Research data
The researchers carried out a cross-sectional study on 1044 US adults with an average age of 67.7 years without particular pathologies, therefore clinically healthy.
All were asked to sample their oral microbiome and to declare any propensity to consume alcohol.
Of the 1044 patients considered:
- 25.9% were abstainers;
- 58.8% moderate drinkers;
- 15.3% avid drinkers;
Among those who expressly declared a frequent consumption of alcohol there were mainly men and smokers with the following propensity:
- 13% drank only wine;
- 5% only beer;
- 3.4% only spirits.
How alcohol consumption leads to the development of carcinogens
Among heavy drinkers and abstainers there was a marked diversity of the oral microbiome and bacterial profiles in general: a reduction in Lactobacilli among alcohol consumers and for regular alcohol users a clear prevalence of Actinomycetes, Leptotrichia, Cardiobacterium and Neisseria.
The researchers stressed the presence, among these group of bacteria, of pathogenic species, Neisseria itself can synthesize acetaldehyde, a carcinogen for humans, from ethanol.
The research has therefore highlighted significant differences between the microbiome of abstainers and that of those who consume alcohol frequently.
The alteration of the microbiome exponentially increases the presence of pathogenic bacteria, with serious consequences on the health of the whole organism.
