Feature of the Oral Bacteria in Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors of Pancreas

The primary objective of this study was to examine dysbiosis within the oral microbiota of individuals afflicted with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNETs) and to ascertain potential biomarkers that could aid in the clinical diagnosis and prognostic evaluation of pNETs. Healthy control volunteers and patients diagnosed with pNETs were recruited from our Hospital. We profiled the salivary flora from individuals with healthy control volunteers (HS group) and pNETs patients (PS group). 16S rRNA gene sequencing was applied to analyze the microbiome. The α and β diversity differences were tested by Tukey Test and Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) respectively. Linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) analysis was performed to assess taxonomic differences between groups. The abundance and diversity of bacterial species in the salivary flora of patients with pancreatic NETs were found to be higher compared to those of healthy controls. Dominant bacteria observed in the salivary flora of pancreatic NETs patients, as well as healthy individuals, included Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, Actinobacteriota, Fusobacteriota, Cyanobacteria and Campilobacterota. When compared with HS group, increased of Leptotrichia , Actinobacillus and Granulicatella at genus level were detected in PS group. LEfSe analysis indicated a greater abundance of Rothia , Chloroplast , Leptotrichia , Actinomyces and Granulicatella in PS group at the genus level. Our findings suggest a potential association between dysbiosis in the oral microbiome and pancreatic NETs. Moreover, we have identified a potential screening marker for individuals with pNETs, which can contribute to improved clinical diagnosis and prognosis assessment.