(OR24-03-26) Commonly Consumed Beverages and the Oral Microbiome in Three US Cohort Studies

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

8:54 AM - 9:06 AM ET

Location: National Harbor 10-11

Presenting Author(s)

Lynn Ferro, PhD, MPH

Postdoctoral Fellow
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Co-Author(s)

SA

Samuel Anyaso-Samuel

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
YY

Yukiko Yano, PhD

Research Fellow
National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health
Rockville, Maryland, United States
XH

Xing Hua

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
YW

Yunhu Wan

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
VC

Vicky Chang

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
CD

Casey L. Dagnall

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
KJ

Kristine Jones

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
BH

Belynda D. Hicks

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
AH

Amy Hutchinson

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
LL

Linda M. Liao

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
WH

Wen-Yi Huang

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
NF

Neal D. Freedman

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
LB

Laura E. Beane-Freeman

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
DS

Dale P. Sandler

National Institute for Environmental Health Science, National Institutes of Health, United States
CA

Christian C. Abnet

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
JS

Jianxin Shi

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
RS

Rashmi Sinha

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
EL

Erikka Loftfield

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States
EV

Emily Vogtmann

National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, United States

Disclosure(s):

Lynn Ferro, PhD, MPH: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Yukiko Yano, PhD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Objectives: The oral microbiome is linked to chronic diseases, but factors which drive oral microbial composition are not well understood. Beverages are also associated with chronic diseases and may influence chronic disease risk in part through their effects on the oral microbiome. This study examined associations of coffee, tea, alcohol, sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs), artificially sweetened beverages and fruit juice consumption with the oral microbiome.

Methods: Data from the Agricultural Health Study (n=1,468), the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study (n=1,934), and the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (n=2,196) were meta-analyzed. Beverage consumption was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and sex-specific tertiles (grams/1000kcal/day) were compared to non-consumers (NC). DNA from oral wash specimens underwent 16S rRNA sequencing (V4 region). Alpha diversity metrics were analyzed via linear regression models. Beta diversity metrics were analyzed via permutational multivariate analysis of variance. For genus-level associations, zero-inflated negative binomial, logistic, and centered log-ratio transformed linear regression models were used based on presence and relative abundance of the taxa.

Results: Only alcohol consumption was associated with all alpha diversity metrics; for instance, the highest tertile (T3) of alcohol drinking was associated with an increase in 10 observed amplicon sequence variants vs. NC (B = 10.18, 95% CI: [5.56, 14.80]). Beverages explained 1.32% of the variability in beta diversity (Bray-Curtis); coffee explained the greatest variability (0.41%), then alcohol (0.23%) and SSBs (0.21%). Alcohol accounted for the majority (87.5%) of the significant genus-level associations. For example, high alcohol intake (i.e., T3 vs. NC) was associated with 2.25 and 2.17 times the odds of having detectable Megasphaera and Peptostreptococcus, respectively, genera associated with periodontal disease, and 23% lower abundance of Lautropia, a commensal bacterium often in lower abundance in those with dental diseases.

Conclusions: Alcohol was strongly associated with multiple oral microbial community characteristics, however other beverages were generally not. Further research on specific alcohol types is needed.

Funding Sources: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health