Scientists discover a connection between the development of age–related macular degeneration and the intestinal microbiome.
In a collaborative study with Tufts University, Weizmann Institute of Science’s researchers have discovered a connection between the development of this disease and the intestinal microbiome.

As reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal the Tufts researchers showed that when mice ate simple carbohydrates, they had an increased risk of developing macular degeneration. But once the mice switched to a diet including complex carbohydrates, the degeneration stopped.

Weizmann Institute’s Tal Korem and other members of Prof. Eran Segal’s team of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Department then entered the picture. The scientists found that when the mice switched to eating complex carbohydrates, the composition of their intestinal microbes also changed. “We don’t know yet if this change affects the course of retinal degeneration, but if it does, it may in the future be possible to prevent or stop this degeneration by altering the microbiome,” Korem says.