Oral microbiome classification of elevated salivary glucose in a large adolescent Kuwaiti population.

Background: The oral cavity harbors a complex microbial ecosystem that reflects both local and systemic health. Metabolic disorders, including impaired glucose regulation, are known to alter the oral microbiome; however, whether oral microbial signatures can classify elevated salivary glucose status in large, healthy pediatric populations has received limited investigation. Objective: To determine whether oral microbiome composition, assessed by DNA probe analysis, can classify elevated salivary glucose status in Kuwaiti adolescents, and to identify the bacterial taxa contributing most to this classification. Methods: Oral microbiome data from 8,173 adolescents (mean age 10.0 ± 0.7 years) were analyzed using relative abundances of 42 bacterial species measured by the Socransky checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization method. Salivary glucose was dichotomized at the cohort median (0.148 mg/dL) to define Low Glucose (≤ median, Results: Both alpha diversity indices were notably lower in the High Glucose group ( Conclusion: Oral microbiome composition can discriminate between adolescents with elevated and normal salivary glucose levels with moderate discriminatory accuracy under internal cross-validation. Reduced microbial diversity and specific bacterial signatures characterize the high-glucose state, supporting the potential utility of oral microbiome profiling as a non-invasive strategy for early metabolic risk identification in pediatric populations.