Microbiome analysis of chronic suppurative otitis media and middle-ear cholesteatoma in China

Abstract

Abstract Here, the bacterial diversity in chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) and middle-ear cholesteatoma (MEC) was analysed. Nine and twenty-nine patients with CSOM and MEC, respectively, were recruited. Middle-ear lesion tissue was collected intraoperatively after opening the tympanic sinus and mastoid cavity under general anaesthesia and sterile conditions. The full-length 16S rRNA genome sequenced using third-generation sequencing (TGS) was then used to profile the bacterial community of each patient. Principal coordinate analysis showed that PC1 and PC2 could explain more than 50% of the between-group differences. Similarity analysis using the binary Jaccard distance matrix indicated that between-group differences were greater than within-group differences (P < 0.05). Staphylococcus aureus was the most common strain in both groups. At the species level, the abundance of Anaerococcus_octavius was significantly different between both groups (P < 0.05). According to the linear discriminant effect size analysis, at the class and genus levels, Alphaproteobacteria and Bacillus were abundant in the CSOM group, respectively. Peptoniphilus_grossensis and Peptostreptococcaceae_bacterium_oral_taxon_929 were abundant at the species level in the MEC group (P < 0.05). Four COG (Clusters of Orthologous Groups ) functions at level 2 were significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The CSOM and MEC groups were inhabited by more diverse microbial communities. This could guide the regular use of antibiotics and decrease the likelihood of multidrug-resistant bacteria formation. Further research on the pathogenic diseases of CSOM and MEC will focus on the functional differences between flora.