Long-Term Stability of Oral Microbiome Samples

Long Term Sample Stability, Oral Microbiota

Oral Microbiota

Background: The human biome is the collection of microbial genes found in and on the body. It has been associated with many health conditions. But certain factors might affect the findings from microbiome studies. These include collection method, lab handling, and data processing. Researchers want to test the effect of long-term storage in a freezer on two oral sample collections methods. These methods are OMNIgene ORAL and Scope mouthwash. Objective: To test the effect of long-term freezing on the oral microbiome measured from OMNIgene ORAL and Scope mouthwash. Eligibility: Employees of the National Cancer Institute who: * Are age 18 or older * Have not used antibiotics in the past 3 months Design: Participants will have 6 visits within 2 weeks. At visit 1 they will complete a questionnaire about health and lifestyle. All visits last 15-30 minutes and include: * 1-2 saliva samples using OMNIgene ORAL: They will spit in a collector. * 1-2 Scope samples: They will gargle with Scope mouthwash and spit in a cup. * Questions about how well they followed the preparation procedures Participants will follow preparation procedures: For 12 hours before each visit, they must not: * Brush their teeth * Floss * Use mouthwash * Eat or drink anything other than water * Chew gum * Consume throat lozenges or candies * Smoke or chew tobacco Participants samples will be stored in a freezer. They will get data about their oral microbiome if they wish.

The human microbiome (i.e., the collection of microbial genes found in and on the human body) has been observed to be associated with numerous health conditions, but current methodological studies suggest that collection method, laboratory handling, bioinformatic processing of the data, and other factors can greatly affect microbiome study findings. In cohort studies, samples are typically collected at baseline, but are often not processed until sufficient cases have accumulated. This type of study design will require that samples remain frozen for likely many years prior to laboratory handling for microbiome measurements. To our knowledge, no study has considered the impact of long term storage of oral samples on oral microbiome characteristics. Therefore, we will evaluate the effect of long term storage of two oral sample collection methods (OMNIgene ORAL and Scope mouthwash) from 30 individuals who work at the NCI on oral microbiome characteristics. We will request that each participant will provide samples on 6 separate days over the course of two weeks. Participants will also fill out a short questionnaire. We will create aliquots from the pooled OMNIgene ORAL and Scope mouthwash samples from each individual, and immediately extract the DNA one aliquot. The remaining aliquots will be frozen at -80 degrees C and DNA will be extracted after one month, three months, six months, and one year after collection. The remaining aliquots will remain in the -80 degress C freezer for even longer term testing and other future studies. We will compare the microbial profiles from the stored samples to the immediately extracted samples to determine the effect of storage on oral samples.

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