

“It’s therefore not surprising that the gut microbiome also has effects on our eyes.”Īccording to the news release, previous work by this research group showed that mice given gut bacteria from human Sjögren syndrome patients with severe dry eye developed worse eye disease under dry conditions than mice that were given gut bacteria from healthy human patients. “The ‘friendly’ bacteria that live in the human gastrointestinal tract have been linked to health and protection against disease in many parts of the body, including the gut, brain and lung,” Presenting author Laura Schaefer, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, said in a news release. This new, unconventional treatment involves bacteria in the intestinal tract.

The most common treatments involve the application of eye drops, gels or ointment. Extreme cases can result in damage to the eye’s surface if left untreated. It can cause eye stinging and burning, inflammation, blurry vision and light sensitivity. The findings were presented at ASM Microbe 2023, the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.ĭry eye afflicts approximately 1 in 20 people in the United States. In a study by a research group at Baylor College of Medicine, oral administration of a commercially available probiotic bacterial strain was found to improve dry eye disease in an animal model.
