Understanding the diabetic foot ulcer microbiome and its impact on wound severity

This research investigated the three major dimensions of the Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU) bioburden: microbial diversity, microbial load, and pathogenic determinants. Next generation sequencing was used to determine the impact of bacterial diversity on healing and non-healing DFUs. Healing DFUs have a significantly greater bacterial diversity compared to non-healing DFUs. For healing DFUs, bacterial species were identified that could be further investigated for their probiotic potential to promote wound healing. This research generated a significant body of knowledge to the three dimensions of DFU bioburden and these findings suggest that the DFU microbiota may be a biomarker for clinical outcomes.