Effects of preoperative topical levofloxacin on conjunctival microbiome in patients undergoing intravitreal injections.

PURPOSE: Endophthalmitis is a serious eye infection that can occur after intravitreal injections. Topical antibiotics are frequently used as a preventative measure, but their impact on the conjunctival microbiome is not fully understood.

METHODS

Conjunctival swabs were collected from 33 eyes of 33 patients undergoing intravitreal injections, both before and after a 3-day course of prophylactic topical levofloxacin 0.5%. Conjunctival microbiome analysis was conducted using 16S rRNA sequencing on the Illumina MiSeq platform. Bioinformatics processing identified unique amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) to evaluate microbial diversity and community composition. Alpha and beta diversity indices were analyzed.

RESULTS

Topical levofloxacin treatment resulted in no significant change in alpha diversity indices, including Shannon index, Chao1, Shannon, PD whole tree, and observed ASVs, indicating stable microbial richness and evenness. In contrast, beta diversity analysis, assessed through Bray-Curtis dissimilarity, revealed significant differences in microbial composition between pre- and post-treatment samples. These changes included a decrease in the abundance of Staphylococcus and Bacillus species and an increase in the abundance of Streptococcus, Haemophilus, and Neisseria.

CONCLUSION

Although prophylactic topical levofloxacin was found to alter the conjunctival microbiome and showed inconsistent effects on the abundance of pathogenic bacteria, its clinical effectiveness as a preventative measure against endophthalmitis remains inconclusive. Further studies are needed to clarify its role in infection prevention.