Demodex and eye disease

ABSTRACT

Demodex is the most common parasite living on humans and yet little is understood about its pathogenicity with respect to the ocular surface. An increasing interest in Demodex over the past 20-years has increased our understanding of this mite and its pathogenetic role. This article begins with a review of the anatomy, life cycle, mode of transmission and advances in genetics that can distinguish between Demodex folliculorum and Demodex brevis, the only two Demodex species in humans. Additionally, a review of diagnostic procedures and existing and emerging ocular and systemic management options are presented. Despite the increasing interest in Demodex in the literature, there remains numerous obstacles for future studies, hence a section of this review is dedicated to the identification and proposal for future considerations. The lack of uniformity with respect to terminology, diagnostic technique and management approach for Demodex remain as obstacles for future study comparisons. This review summarised the current knowledge on Demodex and hopes to offer some recommendations for future directions in the study of Demodex in humans.

KEYWORDS:

• Demodex brevis
• Demodex folliculorum
• Demodicosis

Acknowledgements

Patrice Dupont, librarian, Université de Montreal for assistance with the Web of Science database strategy and bibliometric analysis.

Lyndon Jones, Professor, School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, for his valuable comments with the manuscript.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Supporting information

Additional supporting information may be found in the online version of this article at the publisher’s website:

Appendix S1. Web of Science database search strategy.