Hyderabad: Could the tiny organisms in our stomachs hold the key to saving eyesight? A new Indian study suggests they might. Researchers have discovered that patterns in gut bacteria could help doctors spot diabetic patients at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy (DR) — a leading cause of vision loss.Published in ‘Gut Pathogens’, the findings come from the Diabetic Retinopathy Microbiome Study-India (DRMS‑India) in collaboration with Hyderabad’s LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). The nationwide project spans 17 centres and more than 500 participants, with the first analysis covering 100 individuals — 26 healthy, 33 diabetics without eye disease, and 41 with DR.Stool samples revealed striking differences. Patients with DR showed a more diverse gut microbiome compared to the other groups. While common gut bacteria were present across all participants, their proportions varied sharply. One bacterium, Segatella copri, stood out: It was most abundant in healthy individuals and least in DR patients, hinting at a possible microbial marker for the disease.India carries the world’s second largest diabetes burden, and Hyderabad is often called the country’s ‘diabetes capital’. With DR threatening to rob millions of their sight, doctors believe gut microbiome research could open a new frontier in prevention.The potential is enormous: A simple stool test could one day serve as a non‑invasive screening tool. If the same microbial patterns are confirmed in the larger study population, doctors may eventually be able to identify high risk patients through a simple stool test and begin treatment before serious vision problems develop.“We are hoping that the completed study would help improve eye health outcomes for people with diabetes across India. If the results are confirmed in more participants, a simple stool test could help identify diabetic patients who are at risk of developing eye disease, allowing treatment earlier and preventing vision loss,” said Dr Brijesh Takkar, lead author.“Across diverse geographies and metabolic states, microbial patterns reveal a unique signature of diabetic retinopathy,” added Dr Taraprasad Das, one of the authors and vice‑chair emeritus, LVPEI.The study highlights how lifestyle and gut health may shape disease — and how the tiniest microbes could help protect vision on a massive scale.
