Ocular Surface Microbiome in Health and Disease

The ocular surface is exposed continuously to the environment and, as a consequence, to a variety of different microbes. After the results of the Human Microbiome Project became publicly available, international research groups started to focus interest on exploring the ocular surface microbiome and its physiopathological relationship to the eye. For example, numerous research studies the existence of the ocular surface's bacterial flora, typically gathering cultures from healthy patients and finding few variations in the bacterial species. More recently, culture-independent methods, including 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene sequencing, are being used to define the ocular microbiome. These newer methods suggest that the microbial communities have a greater diversity than previously reported. These communities seem to serve an immune-modulating function and maintain relationships with other microbes and organs, even distant ones. This review summarizes the literature exploring the ocular microbiome, both in health and in different diseases.