Oral microbes implicated in worsening cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia

Changes in the oral microbiome could be associated with cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia.

In a study published in the Schizophrenia Bulletin, researchers used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition and 16S rRNA gene sequencing to examine the oral microbiome’s effects on cognitive function in 68 patients with schizophrenia and 32 controls.

Compared with controls, the patients with schizophrenia presented with lower oral microbiota alpha diversity, shifts in oral microbiota correlated with greater cognitive impairment and differences in peripheral kynurenine pathway activity indicative of neuroinflammation. The researchers found that pathways related to glycan biosynthesis and metabolism could be involved in the relationship between oral microbiome alterations and cognitive impairment in patients with schizophrenia.

The results of the study could shed light on the oral-brain axis.

Read more: Schizophrenia Bulletin

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