Background Metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is the most prevalent chronic liver disease but lacks effective therapies. Oral microbial dysbiosis is closely associated with metabolic dysfunction.Objective This study aimed to delineate MAFLD-specific oral microbiota signatures and identify diagnostic biomarkers.Design Supragingival plaque samples from 21 patients with MAFLD and 20 healthy individuals were subjected to metagenomic sequencing. Potential oral biomarkers were identified bioinformatically and further validated using a MAFLD mouse model.Results Patients with MAFLD exhibited significantly reduced supragingival microbial diversity, altered composition, and enhanced consortial interactions compared to healthy individuals. Seven resident oral species were identified as candidate biomarkers. Among these, Actinomyces naeslundii was notably enriched in the oral cavity of patients with MAFLD and strongly correlated with clinical indices. In vivo experiments further demonstrated that the oral administration of A. naeslundii significantly aggravated MAFLD phenotypes and induced gut dysbiosis in mice fed a high-fat diet.Conclusion This study reveals a potential link between the oral microbiota and MAFLD. Specifically, the excessive enrichment of the oral resident bacterium A. naeslundii is associated with the MAFLD progression in mice.
Tu et al. (Sat,) studied this question.