How Ocular Surface Microbiota Debuts in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Because of metabolic dysfunction, high glucose levels represent good nutrition for bacteria on the skin, on the ocular surface (OS) and in the tears of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, affecting the conjunctival bacterial community. Previously, the only method used to The OS bacterial flora of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients and healthy subjects were compared using 16SrRNA sequencing-based bacterial identification. Among 23 healthy subjects (CON) and 31 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients (DM), 54 eyes were enrolled to investigate the composition of the OS bacterial community. Factors potentially modifying the microbiota were controlled. Results showed that the OS microbiota presented higher diversity in the DM group than that in the CON group. Bioinformatic analysis showed among the top phyla, a lower abundance of Proteobacteria and a higher abundance of Bacteroidetes were found on the OS of diabetics as well as a significant increase of Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas at the genus level. The OS microbiota differs at taxonomic level associated with OSDI and course of diabetes. Thus, the OS flora of diabetes patients is significantly different in comparison with the healthy subjects. The disorder of OS flora maybe closely associated with OS discomfort and course of diabetes. Further research should focus on the specific metabolic mechanism whether the OS flora changes in relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus are causes or consequences of OS discomfort.
Source: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research