Ocular surface microbiota alterations in patients with pterygium

Purpose To examine the alterations in the ocular surface microbiota and microbial diversity in patients with pterygium after different durations of electronic device use. Methods This study involved 31 individuals diagnosed with unilateral pterygium. Conjunctival sac swabs were collected from both eyes, and 16S rRNA sequencing was used to identify the species and quantity of bacteria. The microbial composition was annotated and represented through comprehensive bioinformatics analysis. Results The alpha diversity did not differ significantly between the eyes with pterygium and the contralateral eyes. The Chao1 and Shannon indices for the eyes with pterygium of the patients who used electronic devices for extended periods were significantly higher than those for their contralateral eyes. Principal coordinate analysis revealed that the beta diversity of the eyes with pterygium was similar to that of the contralateral eyes. Genus-level differential analysis revealed that the relative abundance of Pseudomonas was significantly increased and that of Bacteroides was significantly decreased in the eyes with pterygium. The relative abundance of Comamonas was significantly higher in the eyes with pterygium than in the contralateral eyes of the patients who used electronic devices for more than 4 h per day. Conclusion The ocular surface of eyes with pterygium had increased colonization by opportunistic pathogenic bacteria. Excessive exposure to blue light, which may result from prolonged use of electronic devices, may be a risk factor for the development of pterygium.