Smoking Traditional Cigarettes and Vaping May Not Affect the Diversity Metrics of the Oral Microbiota but Significantly and Distinctively Alters the Taxonomic Composition Relative to Non-Smokers

Abstract

Despite decades of anti-smoking initiatives, tobacco remains one of the most commonly used addictive substances in the world. The use of tobacco has strongly been associated with a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. Due to their perceived safety over traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes have surged in popularity in the past five years, especially among the younger populations. However, no consensus has been reached regarding their impact on human health. This study used a bioinformatic approach to study the association of traditional cigarette and e-cigarette usage with the oral microbiome in a cohort of 30 individuals from Houston, Texas, USA. Although no significant differences were observed in core diversity metrics, our findings revealed significant compositional changes in the oral microbiome resulting from smoking when comparing the oral microbiota of cigarette or e-cigarette users with non-smokers. Taxonomic analysis suggests that cigarette smoking increases the abundance of pathogenic genera associated with respiratory and periodontal diseases, while e-cigarette smoking upregulates bacterial species that contribute to oral and respiratory health issues. These results underscore the need for more comprehensive studies to confirm the effects of smoking on oral microbiota in a more diverse population and elucidate the broader effects of the noted dysregulations on overall health.