{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T11:46:59Z","timestamp":1782128819242,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782086400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Natural Science Fundation of Fujian Province","award":["2023J01622"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023J01622"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Fundation of Fujian Province","award":["2025J01746"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025J01746"]}]},{"name":"Natural Science Fundation of Fujian Province","award":["2026J001473"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026J001473"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with microbial dysbiosis, yet subtype-specific alterations in the tongue-coating microbiome remain insufficiently characterized. In this cross-sectional study, tongue-coating samples from 158 participants (94 healthy controls [HC], 19 ulcerative colitis [UC] patients, and 45 Crohn\u2019s disease [CD] patients) were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We compared alpha and beta diversity, taxonomic composition, differential taxa, exploratory random-forest feature rankings, and SPIEC-EASI co-occurrence networks. Species richness did not differ significantly among groups, whereas Shannon and Simpson indices were lower in UC than in HC and CD. Bray\u2013Curtis and Jaccard ordinations showed significant but partially overlapping community differences among the three groups. UC was characterized by enrichment of Proteobacteria, Neisseria, and Porphyromonass (p &lt; 0.001), whereas CD showed higher relative abundances of Prevotella, Veillonella, Leptotrichia, and TM7x. Random forest and LEfSe analyses yielded concordant candidate discriminative taxa, but no independent validation cohort was available. Network analysis suggested group-specific co-occurrence patterns, with results interpreted as statistical associations rather than direct microbial interactions. These findings support the presence of subtype-associated tongue-coating dysbiosis in IBD and identify candidate taxa for future validation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14061381","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T09:49:55Z","timestamp":1782121795000},"page":"1381","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Characteristics of the Tongue Coating Microbiome and Its Subtype Differences in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8186-7700","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiaxin","family":"Shen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Endoscopic Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"},{"name":"The First Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xing","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350200, China"},{"name":"Fujian Clinical Research Center for Liver and Intestinal Diseases, Fuzhou 350005, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinni","family":"Xu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350108, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhihua","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350108, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9188-319X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Weiwei","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China"},{"name":"Department of Gastroenterology, National Regional Medical Center, Binhai Campus of the First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350200, China"},{"name":"Fujian Clinical Research Center for Liver and Intestinal Diseases, Fuzhou 350005, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"McDowell, C., Farooq, U., and Haseeb, M. 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