Characterization of the Ocular Surface Microbiome in Keratitis Patients after Repeated Ophthalmic Antibiotic Exposure
Yutong Kang, Leihao Tian, Xiaobin Gu, Yi-Ju Chen, Xueli Ma, Shudan Lin, Zhenjun Li, Yongliang Lou, Meiqin Zheng
Abstract
Treatment for keratitis is based on appropriate antimicrobial therapy. A direct correlation between antibiotic use and the extent of antibiotic resistance has been reported. Therefore, knowledge of the antibiotic resistance patterns of ocular surface microbial flora in KPs is important for clinical treatment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to use metagenomic approaches to investigate the associations between ophthalmic antibiotic use and the ocular surface microbiome of KPs. Monitoring the microbiota and antibiotic resistome profiles for the ocular surface has huge potential to help ophthalmologists choose the appropriate antibiotics and will thereby improve the efficacy of treatment regimens, which has important implications for reducing the development of antibiotic resistance of the ocular surface to a certain extent.