title: Bacterial Flora Changes in Conjunctiva of Rats with Streptozotocin-Induced Type I Diabetes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The microbiota of both humans and animals plays an important role in their health and the development of disease. Therefore, the bacterial flora of the conjunctiva may also be associated with some diseases. However, there are no reports on the alteration of bacterial flora in conjunctiva of diabetic rats in the literature. Therefore, we investigated the changes in bacterial flora in bulbar conjunctiva of rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type I diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A high dose of STZ (60 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected into Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats to induce type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM). The diabetic rats were raised in the animal laboratory and at 8 months post-injection of STZ swab samples were taken from the bulbar conjunctiva for cultivation of aerobic bacteria. The bacterial isolates were identified by Gram staining and biochemical features. The identified bacteria from both diabetic and healthy rats were then compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The diabetic and healthy rats had different bacterial flora present in their bulbar conjunctiva. In total, 10 and 8 bacterial species were found in the STZ and control groups, respectively, with only three species (Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus gallinarum and Escherichia coli) shared between the two groups. Gram-positive bacteria were common in both groups and the most abundant was Enterococcus faecium. However, after the development of T1DM, the bacterial flora in the rat bulbar conjunctiva changed considerably, with a reduced complexity evident.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  STZ-induced diabetes caused alterations of bacterial flora in the bulbar conjunctiva in rats, with some bacterial species disappearing and others emerging. Our results indicate that the conjunctival bacterial flora in diabetic humans should be surveyed for potential diagnostic markers or countermeasures to prevent eye infections in T1DM patients.
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China; Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Eye Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100040, China.
authors.forename: Yuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Shufei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Xinyun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kou
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Yingxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zi
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Sino-Japan hospital, No. 1, Yinghua East Street, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000382:microbiology*; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000382:microbiology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000382:microbiology*; D015817:Eye Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D005243:Feces; D008297:Male; D064307:Microbiota; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology; D013311:Streptozocin
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013311:Streptozocin