Study Finds Less Bacterial Diversity in Lashes of Patients With Demodex Blepharitis

Bacterial diversity is decreased in the eyelashes of patients with Demodex blepharitis compared with healthy volunteers, according to a study published online in Parasites & Vectors.

“This decrease may be related to the occurrence and development of Demodex blepharitis,” wrote a research team from China.

To learn more about bacterial community characteristics in eyelash roots after Demodex infestation, researchers compared eyelash samples from 25 patients with Demodex blepharitis and 21 healthy volunteers without Demodex blepharitis.

The analysis identified a total 31 phyla and 862 genera among all participants.

In the 2 groups, the most abundant phyla were Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Cyanobacteria. The Demodex blepharitis group had a significantly higher abundance of Actinomycetes compared with the control group.

Meanwhile, the most abundant genera in the groups were Pseudomonas, Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, Rolstonia, and Acinetobacter. The control group had an abundance of Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and the Demodex blepharitis group had an abundance of Corynebacterium_1. The abundance of Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia was 2.36-fold lower in the Demodex blepharitis group compared with the control group. Major biomarkers in the control group were Burkholderia-Caballeronia-Paraburkholderia, SC_I_84_unclassified, Nonmyxobacteria, and Succinvibrio. Major biomarkers in the Demodex blepharitis group were Catenibacterium and Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group.

“The supernatant of Burkholderia cepacia culture medium was found to inhibit the growth of Demodex in eyelash hair follicles” of patients with Demodex blepharitis not in the study group, researchers reported, “providing a new insight with potential applications for the clinical treatment of Demodex infestation.”

Reference

Zou D, Lu X, Song F, et al. Characteristics of bacterial community in eyelashes of patients with Demodex blepharitis. Parasit Vectors. 2024;17(1):64. doi:10.1186/s13071-024-06122-x