The Oral Microbiome and All-Cause Mortality in a US Population-Representative Prospective Cohort

Emily Vogtmann; Yukiko Yano; Jianxin Shi; Yunhu Wan; Vaishnavi Purandare; Jody McLean; Shilan Li; Rob Knight; Lisa Kahle; Autumn G. Hullings; Xing Hua; Barry I. Graubard; Maura L. Gillison; J. Gregory Caporaso; Nicholas A. Bokulich; Martin J. Blaser; Neal D. Freedman; Anil K. Chaturvedi; Christian C. Abnet

doi:10.1093/infdis/jiaf321

The Oral Microbiome and All-Cause Mortality in a US Population-Representative Prospective Cohort

Emily Vogtmann, Yukiko Yano, Jianxin Shi, Yunhu Wan, Vaishnavi Purandare, Jody McLean, Shilan Li, Rob Knight, Lisa Kahle, Autumn G. Hullings, Xing Hua, Barry I. Graubard, Maura L. Gillison, J. Gregory Caporaso, Nicholas A. Bokulich, Martin J. Blaser, Neal D. Freedman, Anil K. Chaturvedi, Christian C. Abnet

Biological Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

No large studies have evaluated whether the human oral microbiome is directly associated with mortality. We evaluated prospective associations between the oral microbiome, measured using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, from participants aged 20–69 years in the 2009–2012 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and all-cause mortality (N = 7721, representing ∼194 million individuals). Alpha diversity was inversely associated with mortality, and some significant associations were observed with the beta diversity matrices. Higher relative abundances of Granulicatella and Lactobacillus were associated with increased risk, while Bacteroides was associated with decreased all-cause mortality at the genus level. Results suggest that oral bacterial communities may be important contributors to health and disease.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	790-795
Number of pages	6
Journal	Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume	232
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf321
State	Published - Oct 15 2025

Keywords

bacteria
human oral microbiome
mortality
NHANES
population-representative sample

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Immunology and Allergy
Infectious Diseases

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10.1093/infdis/jiaf321

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Vogtmann, E., Yano, Y., Shi, J., Wan, Y., Purandare, V., McLean, J., Li, S., Knight, R., Kahle, L., Hullings, A. G., Hua, X., Graubard, B. I., Gillison, M. L., Caporaso, J. G., Bokulich, N. A., Blaser, M. J., Freedman, N. D., Chaturvedi, A. K., & Abnet, C. C. (2025). The Oral Microbiome and All-Cause Mortality in a US Population-Representative Prospective Cohort. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 232(4), 790-795. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf321

Vogtmann, E, Yano, Y, Shi, J, Wan, Y, Purandare, V, McLean, J, Li, S, Knight, R, Kahle, L, Hullings, AG, Hua, X, Graubard, BI, Gillison, ML, Caporaso, JG, Bokulich, NA, Blaser, MJ, Freedman, ND, Chaturvedi, AK & Abnet, CC 2025, 'The Oral Microbiome and All-Cause Mortality in a US Population-Representative Prospective Cohort', Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 232, no. 4, pp. 790-795. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiaf321

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abstract = "No large studies have evaluated whether the human oral microbiome is directly associated with mortality. We evaluated prospective associations between the oral microbiome, measured using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, from participants aged 20–69 years in the 2009–2012 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and all-cause mortality (N = 7721, representing ∼194 million individuals). Alpha diversity was inversely associated with mortality, and some significant associations were observed with the beta diversity matrices. Higher relative abundances of Granulicatella and Lactobacillus were associated with increased risk, while Bacteroides was associated with decreased all-cause mortality at the genus level. Results suggest that oral bacterial communities may be important contributors to health and disease.",

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AU - Vogtmann, Emily

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AU - Shi, Jianxin

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AU - Purandare, Vaishnavi

AU - McLean, Jody

AU - Li, Shilan

AU - Knight, Rob

AU - Kahle, Lisa

AU - Hullings, Autumn G.

AU - Hua, Xing

AU - Graubard, Barry I.

AU - Gillison, Maura L.

AU - Caporaso, J. Gregory

AU - Bokulich, Nicholas A.

AU - Blaser, Martin J.

AU - Freedman, Neal D.

AU - Chaturvedi, Anil K.

AU - Abnet, Christian C.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America 2025.

PY - 2025/10/15

Y1 - 2025/10/15

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AB - No large studies have evaluated whether the human oral microbiome is directly associated with mortality. We evaluated prospective associations between the oral microbiome, measured using 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing, from participants aged 20–69 years in the 2009–2012 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and all-cause mortality (N = 7721, representing ∼194 million individuals). Alpha diversity was inversely associated with mortality, and some significant associations were observed with the beta diversity matrices. Higher relative abundances of Granulicatella and Lactobacillus were associated with increased risk, while Bacteroides was associated with decreased all-cause mortality at the genus level. Results suggest that oral bacterial communities may be important contributors to health and disease.

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The Oral Microbiome and All-Cause Mortality in a US Population-Representative Prospective Cohort

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Keywords

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