Cat oral disease shift from aggressive gum disease to chronic mouth

Abstract

Aggressive Periodontitis (AP) and Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis (FCGS) are two oral inflammatory diseases in cats with unknown etiology. Both conditions present with severe inflammation of the oral cavity and in FCGS it is found with additional deterioration of the non-keratinized mucosa. The oral microbiome is increasingly implicated in disease progression, but little is known about shifts in the microbial community during the AP and FCGS progression. To that end, we used deep metagenomic sequencing with total RNA on three longitudinal samples of the oral microbiome in a cat first diagnosed with AP that progressed to FCGS. This deep sequencing approach revealed that increased diversity at both the genus and species levels marked the shift from AP to FCGS, including increases in <i>Porphyromonas</i> and <i>Treponema</i> species, and decreased <i>Streptobacillus</i> species. The metatranscriptomes were then probed for expression of antimicrobial resistance genes and virulence factors. Disease-related genes that include <i>cheY</i>, and <i>ompP5</i> were expressed in early AP and FCGS, while others like <i>galU</i> were only expressed in one or the other disease state. Both genus and species-level shifts were observed along the longitudinal microbiome samples with a noted increase in species diversity in the FCGS-associated microbiome. Corroborating that functional shifts accompany taxonomic changes, the AMR and virulence factor expression similarly changed between the sampling points. Together, these taxonomic and functional shifts indicate that AP and FCGS are potentially linked and may be marked by changes in the oral microbiome, which supports the development of microbial-based clinical diagnostics and therapeutics.