Contact lens-related corneal infection: Intrinsic resistance and its compromise

Publication date: Available online 20 November 2019Source: Progress in Retinal and Eye ResearchAuthor(s): Suzanne M.J. Fleiszig, Abby R. Kroken, Vincent Nieto, Melinda R. Grosser, Stephanie J. Wan, Matteo M.E. Metruccio, David J. EvansAbstractContact lenses represent a widely utilized form of vision correction with more than 140 million wearers worldwide. Although generally well-tolerated, contact lenses can cause corneal infection (microbial keratitis), with an approximate annualized incidence ranging from ∼2 to ∼20 cases per 10,000 wearers, and sometimes resulting in permanent vision loss. Research suggests that the pathogenesis of contact lens-associated microbial keratitis is complex and multifactorial, likely requiring multiple conspiring factors that compromise the intrinsic resistance of a healthy cornea to infection. Here, we outline our perspective of the mechanisms by which contact lens wear sometimes renders the cornea susceptible to infection, focusing primarily on our own research efforts during the past three decades. This has included studies of host factors underlying the constitutive barrier function of the healthy cornea, its response to bacterial challenge when intrinsic resistance is not compromised, pathogen virulence mechanisms, and the effects of contact lens wear that alter the outcome of host-microbe interactions. For almost all of this work, we have utilized the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa because it is the leading cause of lens-related micr...
Source: Progress in Retinal and Eye Research - Category: Opthalmology Source Type: research