Effect of clinical parameters on the ocular surface microbiome in children and adults

Purpose: To perform a pilot study to characterize the effect of clinical parameters on the ocular surface microbiome (OSM) in children and adults using 16s ribosomal RNA sequencing. Methods: Prospective, cross-sectional study using 16s sequencing to evaluate the OSM. Comparisons were made in bacterial composition by 1) age, 2) gender, 3) sampling location of the ocular and periocular surfaces, and 4) topical drop use. 16s sequencing was performed using Illumina MiSeq 250 and analyzed using Qiime. Results: Thirty patients (15 children [mean 3.7 years], 15 adults [mean 60.4 years]) were sampled. Both principal coordinate analysis and unifrac distance analysis showed significant differences in the composition between the pediatric and adult OSMs (both p=0.001). The eyelid margin microbiota did not show any distinct clustering compared to conjunctiva within the pediatric samples but tended to show a distinction between anatomic sites in adult samples. No differences in OSM were noted by topical drop use. Conclusion: 16s sequencing is a useful tool in evaluating the OSM in patients of all ages, showing a distinct difference between pediatric and adult microbiomes.