title: Association of the Intestinal Microbiome with the Development of Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.
abstract: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of blindness in the elderly. There is evidence that nutrition, inflammation and genetic risk factors play an important role in the development of AMD. Recent studies suggest that the composition of the intestinal microbiome is associated with metabolic diseases through modulation of inflammation and host metabolism. To investigate whether compositional and functional alterations of the intestinal microbiome are associated with AMD, we sequenced the gut metagenomes of patients with AMD and controls. The genera Anaerotruncus and Oscillibacter as well as Ruminococcus torques and Eubacterium ventriosum were relatively enriched in patients with AMD, whereas Bacteroides eggerthii was enriched in controls. Patient's intestinal microbiomes were enriched in genes of the L-alanine fermentation, glutamate degradation and arginine biosynthesis pathways and decreased in genes of the fatty acid elongation pathway. These findings suggest that modifications in the intestinal microbiome are associated with AMD, inferring that this common sight threatening disease may be targeted by microbiome-altering interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.|Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Zinkernagel
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.|Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Denise C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Zysset-Burri
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.|Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Lieselotte E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.affiliation: University Insitute of Clinical Chemistry, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Alexander B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Leichtle
authors.affiliation: University Insitute of Clinical Chemistry, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Carlo R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Largiadèr
authors.affiliation: University Insitute of Clinical Chemistry, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Georg M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Fiedler
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.|Department of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001439:Bacteroides / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D000069196:Gastrointestinal Microbiome; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D045857:Ruminococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification