A latest study is shedding light on how the bacterial composition in saliva can show an individual’s risk for suicide. 

The study by University of Florida researchers published within the journal Nature found a curious discovery within the saliva of school students who reported having recent thoughts of suicide. 

The team tried to check suicidal ideation in the scholars by comparing their salivary bacterial profiles. They analyzed saliva samples from nearly 500 students and compared the outcomes of scholars with recent suicidal thoughts with those that didn’t have thoughts about suicide. 

While there can have been a growing body of research on mental health and its relation to the human biome, this was the primary time scientists checked out bacterial data within the saliva of individuals with suicidal thoughts. 

For the sake of the study, recent suicidal ideation was defined as thoughts of suicide inside two weeks before the saliva sample was taken for examination. 

The researchers found that students with recent suicidal ideation had higher levels of periodontal disease-causing bacteria and other bacteria related to inflammatory health conditions. 

The team notably found that the identical students had lower levels of Alloprevotella rava, known to advertise brain health. In addition they found a genetic variation in the scholars that will have influenced the presence of A. rava of their mouths. 

Based on first writer Angelica Ahrens, a postdoctoral researcher on the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the study findings could help discover the bacteria that ought to be examined or monitored when coping with mental health issues. 

“These results are exciting because they tell us which bacteria we’d like to take a look at more closely. Our query now’s, what are these bacteria doing biologically that affects mental health?” Ahrens said in a press release. 

“Eventually, we hope this line of research could help predict suicidal ideation based on an individual’s microbiome and will inform pro- or prebiotic treatments for those in danger,” she added. 

For the study, students needed to go to the lab to supply their saliva samples. The researchers have since developed a set kit participants can use when collecting samples at home.