A study on oral microbiome characteristics and differences in epilepsy adults with depressive symptoms based on 16S rRNA sequencing

Background

Depression is a common comorbidity in epilepsy, but its underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Although the "oral-brain axis" has gained increasing attention in neuropsychiatric disorders, oral microbial characteristics in epileptic patients with depressive symptoms remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to compare the oral microbial composition between epileptic patients with and without depressive symptoms and to identify bacterial genera and functional pathways that may be associated with depressive symptoms.