Abstract
Introduction:
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The role of infection in the recurrence and chronicity of DFUs is not well characterised, but is recognised as an important determinant.
Objectives:
This study aims to characterise the microbiome in DFUs to determine whether or not key bacterial genera are consistently represented or not.Methods: DFUs of 16 patients with type II diabetes attending a Diabetic Clinic at Ayr Hospital were swabbed. DNA from the swabs was extracted using a combination of bead beating and QIAmp mini DNA kit (Qiagen), then Next Generation Sequencing Illumina MiSeq) of the hypervariable V4 region of 16S rRNA was performed.
Results:
216 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in the sample set, with an mean of 42 per sample(range 20 to 86). Of these, anaerobes (55%) dominated, followed by facultative anaerobes (42%) and aerobes (3%), which came from a variety of sources (environmental, skin commensals and pathogens). The most common bacterium identified was the anaerobe Finegoldia magna, with Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Anaerococcus species also isolated.
Conclusions:
The microbiome of DFUs is heterogeneous and dominated by anaerobic species, which has implication forclinical management strategies.
Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The role of infection in the recurrence and chronicity of DFUs is not well characterised, but is recognised as an important determinant.
Objectives:
This study aims to characterise the microbiome in DFUs to determine whether or not key bacterial genera are consistently represented or not.Methods: DFUs of 16 patients with type II diabetes attending a Diabetic Clinic at Ayr Hospital were swabbed. DNA from the swabs was extracted using a combination of bead beating and QIAmp mini DNA kit (Qiagen), then Next Generation Sequencing Illumina MiSeq) of the hypervariable V4 region of 16S rRNA was performed.
Results:
216 unique operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were identified in the sample set, with an mean of 42 per sample(range 20 to 86). Of these, anaerobes (55%) dominated, followed by facultative anaerobes (42%) and aerobes (3%), which came from a variety of sources (environmental, skin commensals and pathogens). The most common bacterium identified was the anaerobe Finegoldia magna, with Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and Anaerococcus species also isolated.
Conclusions:
The microbiome of DFUs is heterogeneous and dominated by anaerobic species, which has implication forclinical management strategies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2015 |
Keywords
- Diabetic foot ulcer, Microbiology, Biofilms
