UCLA

Microbiome and Host Signatures in Cannabis Smokers: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Periodontal disease acquisition and progression can be affected significantly by a number of environmental, behavioral, and systemic factors. While multiple risk factors and risk indicators such a tobacco use or diabetes have been identified, little is known about the effect that marijuana (cannabis) use has on the periodontium.PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the treatment response of cannabis smokers and non-smokers following non-surgical periodontal therapy in terms of clinical parameters. Additionally, this study aimed to characterize a host profile based on cytokine expression levels in the gingival crevicular fluid and subgingival microbial samples. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 11 patients (6 marijuana users, 5 non-smokers, 0 tobacco smokers) with periodontitis stage III were recruited for this study. For each patient, at least 2 qualifying pockets (≥5mm) were selected and 2 healthy (control) pockets (≤3mm) were selected. Clinical parameters (probing depth, bleeding on probing, clinical attachment loss) were measured, gingival crevicular fluid for cytokine quantification and subgingival plaque samples for microbiologic analysis were collected. Samples were collected at two time points, baseline and 4-6 weeks following non-surgical periodontal therapy. RESULTS: Cannabis and non-smokers showed significant improvements in clinical parameters following non-surgical therapy with no significant differences between the groups. Genus level analysis noted that changes were present between groups with higher proportions of disease-associated genera presenting in cannabis users. Species richness and community structure showed no significant differences between cannabis and non-smoking users. Significantly elevated levels of IL-3 were found in the cannabis smoking group compared to non-smokers at baseline while IL-8 was significantly elevated following treatment in the cannabis group. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence from this study indicates that cannabis users respond to non-surgical periodontal therapy in a similar fashion as non-smokers at the 4-6 week re-evaluation. Trends in microbiologic community structure and cytokine levels appear to persist following treatment which indicates a potential increased risk profile for cannabis users.