Nadeem Urooba, Boachie-Mensah Michael, Zhang Jason, Skondra Dimitra
Department of Pathology.
Pritzker School of Medicine.
Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2022 May 1;33(3):195-201. doi: 10.1097/ICU.0000000000000836. Epub 2022 Feb 7.
The gut microbiome, trillions of microorganisms residing in our digestive tract, is now believed to play a significant role in retinal diseases. Breakthroughs in computational biology and specialized animal models have allowed researchers not only to characterize microbes associated with retinal diseases, but also to provide early insights into the function of the microbiome in relation to biological processes in the retinal microenvironment. This review aims to provide an update on recent advances in the current knowledge on the relationship between the gut microbiome and retinal disorders.
Recent work demonstrates distinct gut microbial compositions associated with retinal diseases such as agerelated macular degeneration and retinopathy of prematurity. Currently, it is believed that gut dysbiosis leads to increased gut permeability, elevated circulation of bacterial products, microbial metabolites and inflammatory mediators that result in immune dysregulation at distant anatomic sites including the retina.
Emerging evidence for the gut-retina axis can elucidate previously unknown pathways involved in retinal diseases and also presents an exciting potential therapeutic avenue. Further preclinical and clinical studies are necessary to establish causation and delineate the precise relationship of the gut microbiome with retinal disorders.
肠道微生物群是存在于我们消化道中的数万亿微生物，现在人们认为它在视网膜疾病中发挥着重要作用。计算生物学和专门的动物模型的突破使研究人员不仅能够鉴定与视网膜疾病相关的微生物，还能对微生物群在视网膜微环境中的生物过程方面的功能提供早期见解。本综述旨在更新目前关于肠道微生物群与视网膜疾病之间关系的最新知识进展。
最近的研究表明，与年龄相关性黄斑变性和早产儿视网膜病变等视网膜疾病相关的肠道微生物组成各不相同。目前，人们认为肠道生态失调会导致肠道通透性增加、细菌产物、微生物代谢物和炎症介质的循环增加，从而导致包括视网膜在内的远处解剖部位的免疫失调。
肠道-视网膜轴的新证据可以阐明视网膜疾病中以前未知的途径，并且还提供了一个令人兴奋的潜在治疗途径。需要进一步的临床前和临床研究来确定因果关系，并描绘肠道微生物群与视网膜疾病的确切关系。
