Purpose

There is growing evidence for a critical role of the microbiome in ocular health and disease. We performed a prospective, observational study to characterize the ocular surface microbiome (OSM) in four chronic ocular surface diseases (OSDs) and healthy controls.

Methods

Sterile swabs were used to collect samples from each eye of 39 patients (78 eyes). Sterile technique and multiple controls were used to assess contamination during DNA extraction, amplification and sequencing. Concurrent use of topical antibiotics, steroids, and bandage contact lenses (BCLs) was documented.

Results

Despite the low biomass of the ocular surface, 47/78 (60%) eyes sampled had positive sequencing reads. We observed that half of patients (8/17, 47%) had distinct microbiomes in each eye. Healthy controls had a Lactobacillus/Streptococcus mixture or significant Corynebacterium. Staphylococcus predominated in 4/7 (57%) patients with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) in at least one eye, compared to 0/10 healthy controls. Interestingly, 8/11 (73%) eyes with SJS were using BCLs, including 4/5 (80%) eyes dominated by Staphylococcus. Lax eyelid syndrome (LES) and Dry Eye Disease (DED) patients had similar OSMs, with Corynebacterium being the most prevalent bacteria. Alpha diversity was higher in controls and ocular graft-vs-host (oGVHD) patients compared to the other OSDs.

Conclusions

Only 50% of the 39 patients had similar microbiomes in each eye. A majority of healthy eyes had a Lactobacillus/Streptococcus mix or Corynebacterium microbiome. Staphylococcus predominated in SJS, Lactobacillus in oGVHD, and Corynebacterium in DED and LES. There may be an association between different OSDs and the microbiome.

中文翻译：

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评估严重眼表疾病中的眼表微生物组。

目的

越来越多的证据表明微生物组在眼部健康和疾病中起着关键作用。我们进行了一项前瞻性观察性研究，以表征四种慢性眼表疾病 (OSD) 和健康对照的眼表微生物组 (OSM)。

方法

使用无菌拭子从 39 名患者（78 只眼）的每只眼中采集样本。使用无菌技术和多重对照来评估 DNA 提取、扩增和测序过程中的污染。记录了同时使用局部抗生素、类固醇和绷带隐形眼镜 (BCL)。

结果

尽管眼表生物量低，但采样的 47/78 (60%) 眼睛具有阳性测序读数。我们观察到一半的患者 (8/17, 47%) 每只眼睛都有不同的微生物组。健康对照含有乳杆菌/链球菌混合物或显着的棒状杆菌。与 0/10 的健康对照相比，4/7 (57%) 的史蒂文斯-约翰逊综合征 (SJS) 患者至少一只眼睛以葡萄球菌为主。有趣的是，8/11 (73%) 患有 SJS 的眼睛使用 BCL，其中 4/5 (80%) 眼睛以葡萄球菌为主。眼睑松弛综合征 (LES) 和干眼病 (DED) 患者具有相似的 OSM，包括棒状杆菌是最普遍的细菌。与其他 OSD 相比，对照组和眼部移植物抗宿主 (oGVHD) 患者的 Alpha 多样性更高。

结论

39 名患者中只有 50% 的每只眼睛都有相似的微生物组。大多数健康的眼睛都含有乳酸杆菌/链球菌混合物或棒状杆菌微生物群。金为主的SJS，乳酸菌在oGVHD和棒状杆菌在DED和LES。不同的 OSD 和微生物组之间可能存在关联。