title: Impact of Microbiome on Ocular Health.
abstract: The ocular surface is continuously exposed to the environment and, therefore, it is surprising that it harbors only few commensals with low degree of diversity. This unique aspect of the ocular surface physiology prompts the question whether there are core ocular commensal communities and how they affect ocular immunity. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of what is known about the ocular surface commensals in health and disease and what we would like to learn in the near future. In addition, we discuss how microbiota at sites other than the eye may influence ocular immune responses. The information discussed in the review has been gathered using PubMed searches for literature published from January 1982 to December 2015.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Abirami
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kugadas
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: mgadjeva@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Mihaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gadjeva
mesh_terms: D005123:Eye; D006801:Humans; D064307:Microbiota
keywords: IgA; contact lenses; microbiota; ocular surface