{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T13:58:31Z","timestamp":1791899911958,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,30]],"date-time":"2025-12-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767052800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100007086","name":"Scientific Research Projects Coordinatorship of Selcuk University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["23401136"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["23401136"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100007086","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Colorectal cancer (CRC) has a high mortality rate worldwide. Oral and intestinal microbiota members may have an effect on gastrointestinal tumors\u2019 pathogenesis, particularly in CRC. Designed as a pilot study, this study\u2019s aim was to investigate the relationship between CRC and oral microbiota and to identify potential biomarkers for CRC diagnosis. Saliva samples were collected from recently diagnosed CRC patients (n = 14) and healthy controls (n = 14) between March 2023 and December 2023. Microbiota (16S rRNA) analyses were conducted on these saliva samples using a next-generation sequencing method. Phylogenetic analyses, including alpha diversity, principal component analysis (PCA), principal coordinate analysis (PCoA), beta diversity, biomarker, and phenotype analyses, were conducted using the Qiime2 (Quantitative Insights Into Microbial Ecology) platform. Alpha diversity indices (Shannon: p = 0.78, Cho1: p = 0.28, Simpson: p = 0.81) showed no significant difference between CRC and control groups. Beta diversity analysis using Bray\u2013Curtis PCoA indicated significant differences in the microbial community between the two groups (p = 0.003). Examination of OTU distributions revealed that the Mycoplasmatota phylum was undetectable in the oral microbiota of healthy controls but was significantly elevated in CRC patients (CRC: 0.13 \u00b1 0.30, Control: 0.00 \u00b1 0.00,\u00a0p &lt; 0.05). Additionally, Metamycoplasma salivarium, Bacteroides intestinalis, and Pseudoprevotella muciniphila were undetectable in healthy controls but significantly more prevalent in CRC patients (p &lt; 0.05 for all three species). LEfSe analysis identified eight species with an LDA score &gt; 2, Granulicatella adiacens, Streptococcus thermophilus, Streptococcus gwangjuense, Capnocytophaga sp. FDAARGOS_737, Capnocytophaga gingivalis, Granulicatella elegans, Bacteroides intestinalis, and Pseudoprevotella muciniphila, as potential biomarkers. The results of this study contribute critical evidence of the role of oral microbiota in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer. Alterations in the microbiota suggest potential biomarkers in understanding the biological mechanisms underlying CRC and developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens15010043","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,31]],"date-time":"2025-12-31T16:08:00Z","timestamp":1767197280000},"page":"43","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Oral Microbiota Alterations and Potential Salivary Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer: A Next-Generation Sequencing Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Salih","family":"Ma\u00e7in","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6224-804X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u00d6zben","family":"\u00d6zden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Health Sciences, Department of Medical Biotechnology, Ac\u0131badem University, Istanbul 34752, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rug\u0131yya","family":"Samadzade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Esra","family":"Saylam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8934-0575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nurullah","family":"\u00c7ift\u00e7i","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"U\u011fur","family":"Arslan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Serdar","family":"Yormaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Selcuk University, Konya 42250, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"670","DOI":"10.1038\/ncpgasthep0663","article-title":"Genetic testing for colon cancer","volume":"3","author":"Kaz","year":"2006","journal-title":"Nat. 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