Alterations of conjunctival microbiota associated with orthokeratology lens wearing in myopic childrenOriginal paper
Karen Pendergrass is a microbiome researcher specializing in microbiome-targeted interventions (MBTIs). She systematically analyzes scientific literature to identify microbial patterns, develop hypotheses, and validate interventions. As the founder of the Microbiome Signatures Database, she bridges microbiome research with clinical practice. In 2012, based on her own investigative research, she became the first documented case of FMT for Celiac Disease, four years before the first published case study.
Read MoreWhat was studied?
Researchers compared conjunctival sac microbiota between myopic children wearing orthokeratology (OK) lenses and non-wearers. Twenty-eight children had worn OK lenses 12 to 13 months; 22 matched controls had never worn or had stopped wearing them for at least a year.
How was it studied?
Conjunctival swabs from all 50 children were profiled by 16S rDNA sequencing targeting the V3-V4 region on a MiSeq platform. Alpha and beta diversity, LEfSe, and PICRUSt functional pathway prediction were compared between groups.
What did they find?
Overall community diversity (alpha diversity) did not differ between groups, but beta diversity clustered OK wearers separately from controls. Blautia, Parasutterella and Muribaculum were enriched in OK wearers, while Brevundimonas, Acinetobacter, Proteus and Agathobacter decreased significantly, with altered predicted metabolic pathways.
Why it matters
Brevundimonas, Acinetobacter, Proteus and Agathobacter each discriminated wearers from controls (AUC over 0.75), and combined reached an AUC of 0.9058. These genera may serve as candidate biomarkers for monitoring conjunctival microbiota changes during OK lens wear.