Alterations of conjunctival microbiota associated with orthokeratology lens wearing in myopic children

Abstract

Abstract Background Orthokeratology (OK) lens wear increases the risk of bacterial infection, but little is known about the microbiota of the conjunctival sac in myopic children wearing OK lenses. This study aimed to investigate the changes of conjunctival microbiota in children after treatment with OK lenses using 16 S rDNA sequencing. Methods Twenty-eight myopic children who had been continuously wearing OK lenses for 12 to 13 months were enrolled in this prospective study. Twenty-two gender- and age-matched myopic children who had not worn OK lenses or discontinued OK lens wear at least 1 year ago were recruited as controls. Conjunctival swabs from each participant were collected for exploration of the microbiota profiles, targeting the V3–V4 regions of the 16 S rRNA gene by MiSeq sequencing. The differences in the microbial community structure and diversity were also compared between groups. Results The bacterial alpha diversity indices in the OK lens group were not different from those in the non-wearer group (P > 0.05, Wilcoxon test), while beta diversity examined using principle coordinate analysis of unweighted UniFrac divided the two groups into different clusters. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes were the abundant phyla in the conjunctival sac microbiota in both groups (P 0.7500) or in combination (the area under the curve was 0.9058) were revealed to discriminate OK lens wearers from controls. Conclusions The relative abundance of the microbial community in the conjunctival sac of myopic children can alter after OK lens wear. Brevundimonas, Acinetobacter, Proteus, and Agathobacter may be candidate biomarkers to distinguish between OK lens wearers and non-wearers.

Keywords

• Orthokeratology lenses
• Conjunctiva sac
• Microbiome
• Brevundimonas
• Acinetobacter
• Proteus