Molecular Analysis of the Ocular Microbiome Dominant Bacteria in Conjunctival Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

 Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) is the final stage of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN). The microbiome plays a critical role in eye disease and health. Changes in the eye microbiome may be involved in the development of OSSN.

 The sampling for this case-control study involved rolling sterile rayon-tipped swabs on the conjunctival tissue of both patients and controls. The detection of bacterial communities, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus),  Staphylococcus haemolyticus (S. haemolyticus), Corynebacterium spp., and Acinetobacter spp. The study was conducted using the TaqMan quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) method, which targets the 16S rDNA gene from bacteria in various samples.

 The results showed that the frequency of Corynebacterium spp. was the same in both the patient and control groups (77.88%). Further, it exhibited the highest copy number compared to other bacteria. In general, a significant difference was observed in the total amounts of P.aeruginosa, S. aureus, and S. haemolyticus among patients, with a P-value < 0.001, additionally, Acinetobacter spp. showed a significant difference with a P-value = 0.004. 88.9% of S. haemolyticus (P=0.002) and 83.3% of P. aeruginosa (P=0.033) were detected in the OSSN group, and no detection of these bacteria was observed in any of the control samples.

 The study found a significant difference in some bacterial strains between patients with OSSN and those without OSSN. Understanding the function and composition of the ocular surface microbiome can provide insights into ocular surface diseases.