Oral Microbiota Diversity in Uveitis and Vitreoretinal Lymphoma

Abstract

Purpose : Dysregulation of microbiota has been observed in immune-mediated diseases and malignancies. Whether the microbiota influences the course of these disorders is a question that remains a subject of research. The aim of our study was to compare microbiota composition between patients with uveitis, intraocular lymphoma and controls.

Methods : Study was designed as prospective observational study. The inclusion criteria were naïve patients with immune-mediated uveitis or newly diagnosed vitreoretinal lymphoma. The fresh buccal swab samples were collected from patients and healthy controls. Bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing by Illumina approach was used to identify the different species that comprise the oral microbiota. Sequencing data were processed using QIIME tool. Principle Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) based on weighted and unweighted UniFrac distance were used to describe β-diversity. The permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) pseudo-F test was used for determination of statistical differences among groups. In addition, linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) was used for identification of specific taxa that differentiate compared groups.

Results : 18 patients with uveitis, 14 patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma and 16 controls were enrolled in the period 2019-2022. PCoA based on weighted and unweighted UniFrac distances showed significant differences among groups (both p=0.001). Control group was characterized with increased relative abundance of genus Streptococcus and order Saccharimonadales. Patients suffering uveitis showed significant enrichment of class Gammaproteobacteria including genera Pseudomonas, Comamonas and Diaphorobacter and class Bacilli with genera Staphylococcus and Globicatella. Patients with vitreoretinal lymphoma showed increased relative abundance of genera Neisseria and Haemophilus (both class Gammaproteobacteria), Veillonella (class Negativicutes), Leptotrichia and Fusobacterium (both class Fusobacteria) and Campylobacter.

Conclusions : This study confirmed significant diversity of oral microbiota among patients with uveitis, intraocular lymphoma, and controls, which possibly affects in the manifestation of these diseases. Further studies are needed to clarify the pathogenetic mechanisms and introduce new therapeutic approaches.

This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.