Hormonal Environment Shapes the Oral Microbiome

Hormones are present in oral fluids and undergo dynamic changes throughout life. Hormonal changes can influence the interactions between the microbial community and the host. The oral microbiome is sensitive to changes in the oral environment, and hormonal fluctuations can create conditions that favour the growth of certain types of bacteria over others. Since the gingival niche harbours the resident microbial community in the biofilm form, while saliva has a transient microbiota in the planktonic form, both could modulate the host–microbial interaction under hormonal oscillations. The microbiome and hormones have a dynamic bidirectional interaction. Specific oral microorganisms can metabolize steroid hormones, disrupting their host regulation. Hormones can serve as host–microbial crosstalk related to health and disease. Hormonal imbalances are associated with systemic diseases such as polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, cortisol-related conditions and oral cancer. Elucidating the complex relationship between steroid hormones and the oral microbiome offers valuable insights into the mechanisms of the disease and potential therapeutic avenues for maintaining oral and systemic health. Access this chapter Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout Purchases are for personal use only Similar content being viewed by others Abbreviations - 11β-HSD2: - 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 - ARs: - Androgen receptors - CXCL1: - Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 - DHT: - 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone - ERα: - Oestrogen receptor alpha - ERβ: - Oestrogen receptor beta - GCF: - Gingival crevicular fluid - GRs: - Glucocorticoid receptors - GUS: - β-glucuronidases - IL-1beta: - Interleukin-1 beta - OSCC: - Oral squamous cell carcinoma - PCOS: - Polycystic ovary syndrome - TGF-beta1: - Transforming growth factor beta 1

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This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Grant ID PID2020-118557GA-I00 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Aurea Simon-Soro) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001 (Flávio Duarte Faria). Figure cartoons were created with BioRender.com. Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2025 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG About this chapter Cite this chapter Rus, M.J., Sauco Carballo, C., Faria, F.D., Simon-Soro, A. (2025). Hormonal Environment Shapes the Oral Microbiome. In: Dame-Teixeira, N., Deng, D., Do, T. (eds) Oral Microbiome. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 1472. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-79146-8_14 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-79146-8_14 Published: Publisher Name: Springer, Cham Print ISBN: 978-3-031-79145-1 Online ISBN: 978-3-031-79146-8 eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)