Gut microbiota-derived indole-3-acetic acid suppresses high myopia progression by promoting type I collagen synthesis

Abstract High myopia (HM) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide with currently no effective interventions available. A major hurdle lies in its often isolated perception as a purely ocular morbidity, disregarding potential systemic implications. Recent evidence suggests the existence of a gut-eye axis; however, the role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of HM remains largely unexplored. Herein, we provide a potential crosstalk among HM’s gut dysbiosis, microbial metabolites, and scleral remodeling. Utilizing 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we observed an altered gut microbiota profile in HM patients with a significant reduction in probiotic abundance compared with healthy controls. Subsequent targeted metabolic profiling revealed a notable decrease in plasma levels of the gut microbiota-derived metabolite indole-3-acetic acid (3-IAA) among HM patients, which is closely associated with the reduced probiotics, both negatively correlated with HM severity. Genetic analyses determined that gut microbiota are causally associated with myopia risk. Importantly, when mice subjected to HM modeling receive fecal microbiota transplantation from healthy donors, there is an increase in 3-IAA plasma levels and simultaneous retardation of HM progression along with better maintenance of collagen type I alpha 1 (COL1A1) expression in the sclera. Furthermore, 3-IAA gavage achieves similar effects. Mechanistic investigations confirm the transcriptional activation of COL1A1 by 3-IAA via promoting the enrichment of SP1 to its promoter. Together, our findings provide novel insights into the gut microbiota-eye axis in the pathogenesis of HM and propose new strategies for HM intervention by remodeling the gut microbiota and indole supplementation.