Genomic foundations of evolution and ocular pathogenesis in human adenovirus species D

Abstract

Human adenovirus commonly causes infections of respiratory, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and ocular surface mucosae. Although most adenovirus eye infections are mild and self-limited, specific viruses within human adenovirus species D are associated with epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), a severe and highly contagious ocular surface infection, which can lead to chronic and/or recurrent, visually disabling keratitis. In this review, we discuss the links between adenovirus ontogeny, genomics, immune responses, and corneal pathogenesis, for those viruses that cause EKC.

Keywords: conjunctivitis; epidemic keratoconjunctivitis; genomics; homologous recombination; human adenovirus; inflammation; ocular infection; pink eye; tropism; virus evolution.