Composition and Diversity of Bacterial Community on the Ocular Surface of Patients With Meibomian Gland DysfunctionOriginal 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?
The conjunctival sac bacterial community in 47 patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), graded mild, moderate, or severe, versus 42 sex and age matched controls without MGD.
How was it studied?
Samples from the upper and lower conjunctival sac of one eye per participant were profiled by 16S rDNA sequencing of the hypervariable region, comparing taxonomy and diversity between groups.
What did they find?
Severe MGD showed distinct clustering from other groups on principal coordinate analysis. Firmicutes (31.70% vs 19.67%) and Proteobacteria (27.46% vs 14.66%) were higher, and Actinobacteria (34.17% vs 56.98%) was lower, in MGD than controls. At the genus level, Staphylococcus (20.71% vs 7.88%) and Sphingomonas (5.73% vs 0.79%) were higher, while Corynebacterium (20.22% vs 46.43%) was lower, in MGD versus controls. Staphylococcus abundance correlated positively with meiboscore (r = 0.650, P < 0.001).
Why it matters
The findings suggest conjunctival microbiota imbalance accompanies MGD, with Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Sphingomonas implicated in its pathophysiology.