Floral Differences of Conjunctiva in Patients with Renal Diseases

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate whether conjunctival flora is different in patients with chronic renal disease (CR) among its subgroups and healthy subjects. Methods: A total of 105 adult CR patients; 35 hemodialysis (HD), 35 diabetic hemodialysis (DHD), 35 renal transplantation (RT), and 40 healthy subjects were enrolled. After ophthalmologic examination, a swab was taken from the lower fornix of the right eye using a cotton-tipped applicator and directly sub-cultured on 5% sheep’s blood agar, chocolate agar, and eosin methylene blue agar. Differences in both bacterial growth and flora diversity of the groups were compared. Results: The order of bacterial growth rates in the groups are RT 65%), DHD (57%), HD (56%), and control (48%). The RT group had a statistically significant difference from the control group (p