A pair of 4,000-year-old teeth found in a cave in Ireland revealed the “disproportionate” impact that dietary changes have on human health, with evidence of a loss in the diversity of oral microorganisms compared to ours. ancestors.
The microorganisms that occupied these teeth made it possible to evaluate the effect of recent cultural changes, such as the popularization of sugar consumption or industrialization, on oral health, according to a study published this Wednesday in the scientific journal ‘Molecular Biology and Evolution’.
Furthermore, the presence of a type of bacteria on one of the teeth – ‘S. mutans’, associated with cavities—surprised the researchers, as Lara Cassidy, professor at Trinity College Dublin and author of the study, acknowledged, since this disease became more prevalent after 1500 BC. c.
Next to the ‘S. mutans’ found two genomes of another bacteria that affects the gums, ‘T. forsythia’, with differences “wide” among them, supporting the hypothesis that ancient humans had more diverse oral microbiomes.
“It is interesting because a loss of biodiversity can have negative effects on the oral environment and human health.”, explained the author of the study and doctoral student Iseult Jackson in the press release.
The discovery also allowed us to get an idea of the oral health of the time, since one of the teeth showed evidence of dysbiosis of the microbiome, that is, of the “loss of balance” between the cells of a human organism and the bacteria that reside therein, as explained in a publication from the Spanish Journal of Digestive Diseases.
Source: Gestion
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