Temporal Variability of Oral Microbiota over 10 Months and the Implications for Future Epidemiologic Studies

Participants preferred the Omnigene and Zymo oral swabs for comfort and ease of use, whilst the Omnigene device yielded the highest median bacterial DNA concentration compared to the other devices. The results indicate that the choice of self-collection device impacts both patient acceptability and DNA yield for oral microbiome analysis.

Comparison of self-collected oral swabs for supragingival microbiome characterization using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing — Rooney et al., Journal of microbiological methods (paywalled) · source ↗

• acceptability
• stabilised
• self-collection
• microbiome
• saliva

Saliva samples collected using the OMNIgene ORAL device and oral wash samples remain stable for microbiome diversity and relative abundance analyses for up to five years when stored at -80°C. This supports the use of these self-collection methods for long-term prospective biobanking and decentralised clinical studies.

Long-term stability at -80°C of oral wash and saliva samples for microbiome analyses — Slack et al., Microbiology spectrum (paywalled) · source ↗

• stabilised
• dna-genotek-omnigene
• self-collection
• microbiome
• liquid
• validation
• saliva

A study found that fecal samples on FOBT cards and RNAlater, and oral samples in Scope mouthwash, remained stable for four days at room temperature, with fecal comparability ICCs ranging from 0.63 to 0.93. These methods support decentralised sampling, though consistent method choice is required as each may introduce modest differences.

Comparison of fecal and oral collection methods for studies of the human microbiota in two Iranian cohorts — Wu et al., BMC microbiology · source ↗

• stabilised
• self-collection
• microbiome
• stool
• validation
• saliva

Taxonomic and diversity profiles differed between unstabilised swabs and stabilised OmniGene kits, with transport time disproportionately affecting swab samples; the collection method had a greater impact on taxa and diversity than transport time, highlighting the need for standardised stool collection in decentralised microbiome studies.

Stabilized and unstabilized sampling methods result in differential fecal 16S rRNA microbial sequencing results — Stamper et al., PloS one · source ↗

• stabilised
• dna-genotek-omnigene
• self-collection
• microbiome
• stool

In a one-week virtual home clinic with 134 participants, 86 per cent returned saliva and 84 per cent returned stool, and most components were feasible and acceptable despite device and logistical challenges. This supports decentralised, patient-centric self-collection of non-blood biospecimens for research.

Collecting at-Home Biometric Measures for Longitudinal Research From the i3C: Feasibility and Acceptability Study — Russell et al., JMIR human factors · source ↗

• dct
• acceptability
• self-collection
• microbiome
• stool
• saliva
• genotyping