Characterization of Conjunctival Bacterial Flora of Healthy Laboratory-Housed New Zealand White Rabbits.

IF 1.3 4区农林科学 Q2 VETERINARY SCIENCES

Veterinary ophthalmology Pub Date : 2025-08-29 DOI:10.1111/vop.70073

Denisse Espinosa-Encalada, Raquel Maroto Cejudo, Óscar Esparcia Rodríguez, Mónica Gómez Juarez Sango, Fernando Andrés Pretel, Carlos Cava Valenciano

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: To characterize the conjunctival bacterial flora of laboratory-housed New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits using conventional culture techniques and quantitative bacterial analysis.

Animals studied: This experimental study involved the collection of conjunctival fornix samples from 24 eyes of 12 healthy laboratory-housed NZW rabbits.

Procedures: Conjunctival samples were obtained using sterile dry swabs and processed using standard microbiological techniques. Bacterial identification was performed via mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF), and quantification was expressed in colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL).

Results: Bacterial growth was observed in 74% of the samples (17/24 eyes), with seven species identified: Moraxella cuniculi, Corynebacterium spp., coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, Bacillus spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus viridans group, and Tsukamurella spp. Although most isolates were Gram-positive, M. cuniculi-a Gram-negative bacterium-was the predominant species. It exhibited the highest bacterial load (CFU/mL) and demonstrated a statistically significant difference compared to the other species (Kruskal-Wallis, p = 0.01). M. cuniculi also exhibited the highest variability in CFU/mL values among all isolates.

Conclusions: Despite the predominance of Gram-positive isolates, M. cuniculi was identified as the predominant species in the conjunctival flora of healthy NZW rabbits, both in frequency and bacterial load. These findings contribute to a more detailed characterization of the ocular microbiota in this commonly used laboratory model.

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健康实验室饲养的新西兰大白兔结膜菌群的特征。

目的：采用常规培养技术和定量细菌分析方法对实验室饲养的新西兰白兔结膜菌群进行鉴定。实验动物：本实验研究收集了12只健康实验室饲养的NZW兔24只眼睛的结膜穹窿样本。操作步骤：使用无菌干拭子获得结膜样品，并使用标准微生物学技术进行处理。通过质谱法（MALDI-TOF）进行细菌鉴定，定量以每毫升菌落形成单位（CFU/mL）表示。结果：74%（17/24只眼）的标本中有细菌生长，鉴定出7种细菌，分别为蠕形莫拉菌、棒状杆菌、凝固酶阴性葡萄球菌、芽孢杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、翠绿链球菌群和tsukamurela，革兰氏阳性菌株多，但以革兰氏阴性菌蠕形芽孢杆菌为优势菌种。其细菌负荷最高（CFU/mL），与其他菌种相比差异有统计学意义（Kruskal-Wallis, p = 0.01）。CFU/mL值在所有分离株中也表现出最高的变异性。结论：尽管革兰氏阳性菌株占优势，但在健康的NZW家兔结膜菌群中，无论是在频率上还是在细菌载量上，均被确定为优势菌种。这些发现有助于在这个常用的实验室模型中更详细地描述眼部微生物群。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Veterinary ophthalmology 农林科学-兽医学

CiteScore

2.70

自引率

37.50%

发文量

审稿时长

12-24 weeks

期刊介绍： Veterinary Ophthalmology is a peer-reviewed, international journal that welcomes submission of manuscripts directed towards academic researchers of veterinary ophthalmology, specialists and general practitioners with a strong ophthalmology interest. Articles include those relating to all aspects of: Clinical and investigational veterinary and comparative ophthalmology; Prospective and retrospective studies or reviews of naturally occurring ocular disease in veterinary species; Experimental models of both animal and human ocular disease in veterinary species; Anatomic studies of the animal eye; Physiological studies of the animal eye; Pharmacological studies of the animal eye.