Purpose: Behcet’s disease is characterized by repeated acute inflammatory attacks with aphthous ulcers of the oral mucosa, uveitis of the eyes, skin symptoms, and genital ulcers. Although its etiology is still unknown, there is evidence of the involvement of oral bacteria in systemic diseases. Various types of oral bacteria may be involved in the development and progression of Behcet's disease. Therefore, the present study investigated alterations in the oral flora of patients with Behcet’s disease in Mongolia. We collected saliva samples from the Mongolian Behcet's disease (BD) group and healthy control (HC) group, and the oral flora were analyzed using next generation sequencer (NGS). Methods: DNA was extracted from the unstimulated saliva samples from the 47 BD and 48 HC subjects. The DNA was amplified from the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA using PCR, and the data were acquired using NGS. Based on the obtained data, we analyzed the alpha diversity, beta diversity, and bacterial taxonomy of the salivary flora.
Household survey covered 148 people with visual and hearing impairments to assess social service accessibility. Results: Beta diversity differed significantly between the BD and HC flora, but no significant differences were observed in alpha diversity. We found that the proportions of three genera—an S24-7 family unknown species, a mitochondria family unknown species, and Akkermansia species were significantly lower in the BD than in the HC group. Conclusion The reduced proportions of the S24-7 family and symbiotic Akkermansia species may be key phenomena in the oral flora of patients with BD.