Metagenomic profiling of ocular surface microbiome alterations in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy-Richardson’s syndrome

Highlights

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    This study systematically analyzed alterations in the ocular surface microbiome of patients with progressive supranuclear palsy-Richardson’s syndrome (PSP-RS) via metagenomic sequencing, with comparisons to Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and healthy controls (HC).
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    The β-diversity of the ocular surface microbiome in PSP-RS patients was significantly altered compared to HC, while no such obvious difference was observed in PD patients. PSP-RS patients exhibited increased abundances of g_Acinetobacter and g_Anaerococcus, decreased abundance of g_Vibrio, as well as characteristic changes at the specific species (e.g., s_Acinetobacter_guillouiae) and strain levels.
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    The ocular surface microbiome of PSP-RS patients showed more significant remodeling in Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional pathways, involving multiple key pathways such as transposase activity and amino acid metabolism.
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    The abundance of g_Acinetobacter was positively correlated with the severity of ocular motor defects (assessed by PSPRS-IV score) in PSP-RS patients, and the abundance of g_Anaerococcus was positively correlated with disease duration and Freezing of Gait-Questionnaire (FoG-Q) score. These findings suggest that the ocular surface microbiome may be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of PSP-RS.

Abstract

This study employed shotgun metagenomic sequencing to characterize the ocular surface microbiome in 20 progressive supranuclear palsy-Richardson’s syndrome (PSP-RS) patients, 17 Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, and 30 healthy controls (HC). Comparative analysis revealed that PSP-RS patients exhibited significantly altered microbial β-diversity compared to HC, while PD patients showed no such significant changes. Both patient groups demonstrated decreased abundance of g_Vibrio, with PSP-RS patients additionally showing marked increases in g_Acinetobacter and g_Anaerococcus. Importantly, correlation analyses identified that increased g_Acinetobacter abundance was positively associated with ocular motor impairment severity, while elevated g_Anaerococcus levels correlated with both freezing of gait severity and longer disease duration in PSP-RS patients. This is the first shotgun metagenomic investigation of the ocular surface microbiome in PSP-RS and these findings provide evidence that specific alterations in the ocular surface microbiome may contribute to PSP-RS pathogenesis and disease progression.

Read full article for free (open access):
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266651742600060X



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