Abstract
To compare the ocular surface (OS) microbial communities
and diversity between dry eye (DE) and non-DE (NDE). Furthermore,
we compared meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD)
and non-MGD (NMGD) among DE subjects. The V3-V4 region
of 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing was performed
in the conjunctival swab samples to investigate the
composition of the OS bacterial community in DE (n=35) and
NDE (n=54) and compared the composition of MGD (n=25)
and NMGD (n=10) among DE subjects. Deep sequencing
of OS 16S rDNA from DE (n=35) and NDE (n=54) demonstrated
great a difference in alpha and beta diversity between
the OS bacterial flora (P < 0.05). The similar OS microbial
structures were shown at the phylum and genus levels by bioinformatics
analysis between them, and in LEfSe (linear discriminant
analysis effect size) analysis, Bacteroidia and Bacteroidetes
were enriched in DE, while Pseudomonas was plentiful
in NDE (linear discriminant analysis [LDA] > 4.0). Among
the DE group, there was no significant difference in α and β
diversity between MGD and NMGD (P > 0.05). Surprisingly,
Bacilli was the dominant microbe in MGD, and Bacteroidetes
was the superior bacteria in NMGD among DE subjects (LDA
> 4.0). Different diversity of OS bacteria composition between
DE and NDE and the altered diversity of OS bacteria may
play an important role in DE. Moreover, the lower dominance
of OS bacteria in DE may be associated with the occurrence
and development of DE. Although there was no significant
difference in alpha and beta analysis, the OS dominant microbe
between MGD and NMGD among DE was different.
Citations
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