Conjunctival dysbiosis in mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma

Kazunobu Asao,Satoru Ando,Kohji Nishida,Satoshi Kawasaki,Tetsuya Iida,Daisuke Yamashita,Noriyasu Hashida,Kazuichi Maruyama,Hiroyuki Kurakami,Shota Nakamura,Tomomi Yamada,Daisuke Motooka

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-44861-5

Abstract

To investigate the conjunctival microbiota and the association between the development of conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma and dysbiosis, DNA samples were collected from 25 conjunctival MALT lymphoma patients and 25 healthy controls. To compare the microbiota, samples were collected from the following four body locations: conjunctiva, meibomian gland, periocular skin and hand. Extracted DNA was analyzed by 16S rRNA sequences, and libraries were sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq sequencer. The differences in bacteria were characterized by using principal coordinate analysis of metagenomics data, and the differences in bacterial compositions were evaluated by linear discriminant analysis effect size. The conjunctival microbiota of MALT lymphoma patients was compositionally different from that of healthy controls. For the conjunctival MALT lymphoma patients, alterations in the microbial composition were detected, and a remarkable change was detected at the conjunctiva. Detailed analysis showed that a specific population of the microbiota, the genus Delftia, was significantly more abundant in conjunctival MALT lymphoma patients, and the genera Bacteroides and Clostridium were less abundant in the MALT lymphoma patients. A specific microbiota on the ocular surface in conjunctival MALT lymphoma patients was detected, and dysbiosis may play an important role in the pathophysiology of conjunctival MALT lymphoma.

Highlights

Conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas are known as localized, low-grade tumors, and extranodal marginal zone B-cell MALT lymphoma is the most common histological subtype[1,2,3,4,5]
We investigated the microbial diversity in conjunctival MALT lymphoma and healthy controls and compared four body locations to detect their specific microbiota
A total of 50 persons (25 patients, 25 healthy controls) were enrolled in this study, and samples were collected at four locations and at two time points

Summary

Introduction

Conjunctival mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas are known as localized, low-grade tumors, and extranodal marginal zone B-cell MALT lymphoma is the most common histological subtype[1,2,3,4,5]. Conjunctival MALT lymphoma has similar characteristics to gastric MALT lymphoma in the stomach, and it is thought to be caused by a chronic inflammatory response[6]. Several studies have reported the detection of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) DNA in some cases of conjunctival MALT lymphoma and the association of C. psittaci in its development, and these microorganisms were thought to be causative pathogens[7,8]. Pathological changes in the microbiota, such as Staphylococcus epidermidis, a commensal skin bacterium, has been demonstrated to cause opportunistic infections and result in the development of catheter infection, prosthetic valve endocarditis and endophthalmitis[15,16,17,18].

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Results

Conclusion