Evaluation of patients with dry eye disease for conjunctival and .

Aim: To determine the possibility of the development of dry eye disease (DED) as a result of persistent infection with and in the conjunctiva of patients.

Methods: This study was conducted on 58 patients of age range 20-50y, diagnosed with DED confirmed by Schirmer I test and tear breakup time. The non-dry eye control group included 27 subjects of the same age. Ocular specimens were collected as conjunctival scrapings and swabs divided into three groups: the first used for bacterial culture, the second and third taken to detect and by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) assay and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method.

Results: was detected in 65.5% and 76% of DED patients by DFA and PCR methods respectively. was found in 44.8% of DED infected patients using the PCR method. Both organisms were identified in only 37.9% of DED patients found to be infected. Control subjects had a 22% detection rate of by DFA assay versus a 7% detection rate by PCR; while was detected in 3.7% of the controls by PCR method. The conjunctival culture revealed that gram positive microorganisms represented 75% of isolates with coagulase negative Staphylococci the most common (50%) followed by (20%), whereas gram negative microorganisms occurred in 25% of cases, isolating spp. as the most frequent organism.

Conclusion: Our results tend to point out that and were detected in a moderate percentage of patients with DED, and could be a fair possibility for its development. PCR is more reliable in detecting than DFA technique. The presence of isolated conjunctival bacterial microflora can be of some potential value.