Age-related macular degeneration is associated with alterations in the gut microbiome

Age-dependent 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 gut microbiome is associated with metabolic diseases through modulation of inflammation and host metabolism. To investigate whether compositional and functional alterations of the gut 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 gut 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 alterations in the gut microbiome are associated with AMD and that the interdependency between amino and fatty acid metabolism and AMD could be targeted by microbiome-altering interventions.