Objective: To explore the correlation between tongue and oral microbiota, we studied the microbial community structure of different tongue coating types in patients with chronic gastritis.
Methods: 16S rDNA gene sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were used to study the dynamic changes and correlation of microbial flora in patients with chronic gastritis, healthy people, and patients with different tongue fur. In addition, it was also discussed between the severity of gastritis and the microflora of tongue fur.
Results: The microbial diversity of tongue fur in patients with chronic gastritis was significantly different from healthy controls. There were significant changes in bacterial communities' diversity and relative abundance between extra tongue fur in patients but not in healthy people. Oral bacteria with relative abundance > 1% and < 0.05 among different tongue fur flora were dominant bacteria, including 12 phyla such as and , and 256 genera such as and .
Conclusions: The changes in oral flora in patients with chronic gastritis were related to tongue fur. Therefore, the significant microbiota might enlighten further study on the correlation between tongue inspection and oral microbiota in patients with chronic gastritis.
Keywords: RNA, ribosomal, 16S; gastritis; medicine, Chinese traditional; oral microflora; tongue manifestation.