{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T14:43:59Z","timestamp":1791902639553,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]],"date-time":"2024-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1719878400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Institute for Health (NIDCR)","award":["R21DE031888"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21DE031888"]}]},{"name":"National Institute for Health (NIDCR)","award":["1UL1TR00309"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1UL1TR00309"]}]},{"name":"University of Maryland Baltimore, Institute for Clinical &amp; Translational Research (ICTR)","award":["R21DE031888"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21DE031888"]}]},{"name":"University of Maryland Baltimore, Institute for Clinical &amp; Translational Research (ICTR)","award":["1UL1TR00309"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1UL1TR00309"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The oral cavity remains an underappreciated site for SARS-CoV-2 infection despite the myriad of oral conditions in COVID-19 patients. Recently, SARS-CoV-2 was shown to replicate in the salivary gland cells causing tissue inflammation. Given the established association between inflammation and microbiome disruption, we comparatively profiled oral microbial differences at a metagenomic level in a cohort of hospitalized COVID-19 patients and matched healthy controls. Specifically, we aimed to evaluate colonization by the opportunistic fungal pathogen Candida albicans, the etiologic agent of oral candidiasis. Comprehensive shotgun metagenomic analysis indicated that, overall, COVID-19 patients exhibited significantly reduced bacterial and viral diversity\/richness; we identified 12 differentially abundant bacterial species to be negatively associated with COVID-19, and the functional pathways of certain bacteria to be highly associated with COVID-19 status. Strikingly, C. albicans was recovered from approximately half of the COVID-19 subjects but not from any of the healthy controls. The prevalence of Candida is likely linked to immune hypo-dysregulation caused by COVID-19 favoring Candida proliferation, warranting investigations into the interplay between Candida and SARS-CoV2 and potential therapeutic approaches directed toward oral candidiasis. Collectively, our findings prompt a reassessment of oral opportunistic infection risks during COVID-19 disease and their potential long-term impacts on oral health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms12071356","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]],"date-time":"2024-07-02T11:23:55Z","timestamp":1719919435000},"page":"1356","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Oral Microbiota Alterations in Subjects with SARS-CoV-2 Displaying Prevalence of the Opportunistic Fungal Pathogen Candida albicans"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Areej A.","family":"Alfaifi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"},{"name":"Department of Restorative and Prosthetic Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh 11426, Saudi Arabia"},{"name":"King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh 11481, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johanna B.","family":"Holm","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Genome Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6889-2453","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tristan W.","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jonathan","family":"Lim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Genome Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Timothy F.","family":"Meiller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"},{"name":"Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2250-5926","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Rock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesia, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5286-4562","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ahmed S.","family":"Sultan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"},{"name":"Greenebaum Cancer Center, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4425-3873","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mary Ann","family":"Jabra-Rizk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"464","DOI":"10.1177\/0022034521997112","article-title":"Frequent and persistent salivary gland ectasia and oral disease after COVID-19","volume":"100","author":"Gherlone","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. 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