Conjunctival Microbiome Changes Associated with Fungal Keratitis: Metagenomic Analysis

Overview

Journal Int J Ophthalmol

Specialty Ophthalmology

Date 2019 Feb 28

PMID 30809472

Citations 30

Authors

Cheng Ge

Chao Wei

Bao-Xia Yang

Jun Cheng

Yu-Sen Huang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the ocular surface microbiome profile of patients with fungal keratitis (FK) through bacterial 16S rDNA sequencing.

Methods: The swab samples were collected from 8 patients with FK (Group 1 from the corneal ulcer, Group 2 from the conjunctival sac of the infected eyes, and Group 3 from the conjunctival sac of the fellow eyes) and 10 healthy eyes (Group 4 from the conjunctival sac). Bacterial 16S rDNA V4-V5 region sequencing was performed to characterize the bacterial communities on the ocular surfaces of the patients with FK.

Results: Our metagenomic data showed that 97% of the sequence reads were categorized into 245 distinct bacterial genera, with 67.75±7.79 genera detected in Group 1, 73.80±13.44 in Group 2, 74.57±14.14 in Group 3, and 89.60±27.49 in Group 4. Compared with the healthy eyes (Group 4), both infected (Groups 1 and 2) and fellow eyes (Group 3) of the patients with FK showed reduced bacterial diversity and altered ocular surface microbiota compositions, with lower abundance of and and higher abundances of , and .

Conclusion: Our report depicts the altered ocular surface bacterial community structures both in the affected and fellow eyes of patients with FK. These changes may contribute to the pathogenesis of FK or the increased risk for FK.

Citing Articles

Conjunctival microbiota variations in a subset of middle-aged and elderly individuals from Beijing, China.

Zhao T, Wang Y, Sun Y, Wang J, Jiang X, Li X Int J Ophthalmol. 2025; 18(2):237-243.

PMID: 39967978 PMC: 11754026. DOI: 10.18240/ijo.2025.02.06.

The Ocular Microbiome: Micro-Steps Towards Macro-Shift in Targeted Treatment? A Comprehensive Review.

Trojacka E, Izdebska J, Szaflik J, Przybek-Skrzypecka J Microorganisms. 2024; 12(11).

PMID: 39597621 PMC: 11596073. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12112232.

Overview of Mycotic Keratitis.

Arboleda A, Ta C Cornea. 2024; 43(9):1065-1071.

PMID: 39102310 PMC: 11300963. DOI: 10.1097/ICO.0000000000003559.

Mycobiomes of the Ocular Surface in Bacterial Keratitis Patients.

Jayasudha R, Chakravarthy S, Prashanthi G, Sharma S, Garg P, Murthy S Front Ophthalmol (Lausanne). 2024; 2:894739.

PMID: 38983567 PMC: 11182091. DOI: 10.3389/fopht.2022.894739.

What is the impact of microbiota on dry eye: a literature review of the gut-eye axis.

Song J, Dong H, Wang T, Yu H, Yu J, Ma S BMC Ophthalmol. 2024; 24(1):262.

PMID: 38898418 PMC: 11186098. DOI: 10.1186/s12886-024-03526-2.

References

Justesen U, Holt H, Thiesson H, Blom J, Nielsen X, Dargis R . Report of the first human case of Caulobacter sp. infection. J Clin Microbiol. 2007; 45(4):1366-9. PMC: 1865810. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.02380-06. View

Fan D, Coughlin L, Neubauer M, Kim J, Kim M, Zhan X . Activation of HIF-1α and LL-37 by commensal bacteria inhibits Candida albicans colonization. Nat Med. 2015; 21(7):808-14. PMC: 4496259. DOI: 10.1038/nm.3871. View

Naik S, Bouladoux N, Linehan J, Han S, Harrison O, Wilhelm C . Commensal-dendritic-cell interaction specifies a unique protective skin immune signature. Nature. 2014; 520(7545):104-8. PMC: 4667810. DOI: 10.1038/nature14052. View

Dong Q, Brulc J, Iovieno A, Bates B, Garoutte A, Miller D . Diversity of bacteria at healthy human conjunctiva. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011; 52(8):5408-13. PMC: 3176057. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.10-6939. View

Findley K, Oh J, Yang J, Conlan S, Deming C, Meyer J . Topographic diversity of fungal and bacterial communities in human skin. Nature. 2013; 498(7454):367-70. PMC: 3711185. DOI: 10.1038/nature12171. View

Loperena L, Soria V, Varela H, Lupo S, Bergalli A, Guigou M . Extracellular enzymes produced by microorganisms isolated from maritime Antarctica. World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2012; 28(5):2249-56. DOI: 10.1007/s11274-012-1032-3. View

Dirksen P, Marsh S, Braker I, Heitland N, Wagner S, Nakad R . The native microbiome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: gateway to a new host-microbiome model. BMC Biol. 2016; 14:38. PMC: 4860760. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-016-0258-1. View

Lee S, Oh D, Jung J, Kim J, Jeon C . Comparative ocular microbial communities in humans with and without blepharitis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012; 53(9):5585-93. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.12-9922. View

Tanure M, Cohen E, Sudesh S, Rapuano C, Laibson P . Spectrum of fungal keratitis at Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cornea. 2000; 19(3):307-12. DOI: 10.1097/00003226-200005000-00010. View

10.

Zhang H, Zhao F, Hutchinson D, Sun W, Ajami N, Lai S . Conjunctival Microbiome Changes Associated With Soft Contact Lens and Orthokeratology Lens Wearing. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017; 58(1):128-136. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.16-20231. View

11.

St Leger A, Desai J, Drummond R, Kugadas A, Almaghrabi F, Silver P . An Ocular Commensal Protects against Corneal Infection by Driving an Interleukin-17 Response from Mucosal γδ T Cells. Immunity. 2017; 47(1):148-158.e5. PMC: 5553552. DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.06.014. View

12.

Wen X, Miao L, Deng Y, Bible P, Hu X, Zou Y . The Influence of Age and Sex on Ocular Surface Microbiota in Healthy Adults. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017; 58(14):6030-6037. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.17-22957. View

13.

Kugadas A, Wright Q, Geddes-McAlister J, Gadjeva M . Role of Microbiota in Strengthening Ocular Mucosal Barrier Function Through Secretory IgA. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2017; 58(11):4593-4600. PMC: 5595225. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.17-22119. View

14.

de Paiva C, Jones D, Stern M, Bian F, Moore Q, Corbiere S . Altered Mucosal Microbiome Diversity and Disease Severity in Sjögren Syndrome. Sci Rep. 2016; 6:23561. PMC: 4834578. DOI: 10.1038/srep23561. View

15.

Huang Y, Yang B, Li W . Defining the normal core microbiome of conjunctival microbial communities. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016; 22(7):643.e7-643.e12. DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.04.008. View

16.

Almenara Michelena C, Del Buey M, Ascaso F, Cristobal J . Keratitis Due to Achromobacter xylosoxidans in a Contact Lens User. Eye Contact Lens. 2017; 44 Suppl 1:S348-S351. DOI: 10.1097/ICL.0000000000000370. View

17.

Iliev I, Funari V, Taylor K, Nguyen Q, Reyes C, Strom S . Interactions between commensal fungi and the C-type lectin receptor Dectin-1 influence colitis. Science. 2012; 336(6086):1314-7. PMC: 3432565. DOI: 10.1126/science.1221789. View

18.

Lowrey L, Woodhams D, Tacchi L, Salinas I . Topographical Mapping of the Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Microbiome Reveals a Diverse Bacterial Community with Antifungal Properties in the Skin. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2015; 81(19):6915-25. PMC: 4561705. DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01826-15. View

19.

Magoc T, Salzberg S . FLASH: fast length adjustment of short reads to improve genome assemblies. Bioinformatics. 2011; 27(21):2957-63. PMC: 3198573. DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btr507. View

20.

Handelsman J, Rondon M, Brady S, Clardy J, Goodman R . Molecular biological access to the chemistry of unknown soil microbes: a new frontier for natural products. Chem Biol. 1998; 5(10):R245-9. DOI: 10.1016/s1074-5521(98)90108-9. View