Adam, MehmetBalci, MehmetBayhan, Hasan AliInkaya, Ahmet CagkanUyar, MehmetGurdal, Canan2024-02-232024-02-2320151300-06592147-2661https://doi.org/10.4274/tjo.33230https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12452/16456Objectives: To evaluate the conjunctival bacterial flora in diabetic patients and nondiabetic subjects. Materials and Methods: Fifty-three diabetic patients and 43 nondiabetic healthy individuals were included in the study. A specimen was taken from each participant for the study by rubbing a sterile cotton-tipped swab on the inferior palpebral conjunctiva of the right eye. Samples were incubated in blood agar, chocolate agar, eosin methylene-blue lactose sucrose agar and sabouraud 4% dextrose agar. Isolated microorganisms were identified using routine microbiological methods. Results: Rates for bacterial isolations were determined as 38.5% in diabetic patients and 34.9% in nondiabetic controls. Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 30% of cases in the diabetic patient group, while 20% tested positive for Escherichia call, 10% for coagulase-negative Staphylococcus, 10% for Klebsiella pneumoniae and 30% for multiple bacteria. In the non-diabetic group, 53.3% of patients were positive for Staphylococcus aureus while coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was isolated in 26.7%, Klebsiella pneumoniae in 6.7% and multiple bacteria in 13.3% of patients. Although there was no statistically significant difference in the number of isolated bacteria between the diabetic and nondiabetic groups, gram-negative bacterial colonization was significantly higher in diabetic patients (chi(2) = 0.129, p=0.719 and chi(2)=5.60, p = 0.018, respectively). Conclusion: Gram-negative bacteria are more common in the conjunctival flora of diabetic patients. This should be considered by clinicians when treating ocular infections in diabetic patients.eninfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessConjunctival FloraDiabetes MellitusGram-Negative BacteriaArticle455193196278002312-s2.0-84944622773WOS:00021924530000410.4274/tjo.33230