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Connect between gut microbiome and diseases of the human eye

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Abstract

Implicating dysbiosis of gut microbiome in digestive tract diseases/diet-related diseases (obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, enterocolitis, diabetes, etc.) may be expected. However, when gut microbiome dysbiosis is implicated in extra-intestinal diseases like cancers, muscular dystrophy, mental disorders, vaginosis, etc., it is all the more challenging. An additional challenge would be to ascertain the role of gut microbiome in ocular diseases, which are as remote as the brain. The present review highlights studies that establish the connect between gut microbiome dysbiosis and inflammatory ocular diseases such as uveitis, bacterial keratitis, fungal keratitis, etc.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by grants received from the Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation and the Department of Biotechnology, India. Thanks to Kalyan, Jayasudha and Prashanthi for their help in this work.

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Correspondence to S Shivaji.

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Shivaji, S. Connect between gut microbiome and diseases of the human eye. J Biosci 44, 110 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-019-9931-1

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