Microbial keratitis (MK) is an infection of the cornea, caused by bacteria, fungi, parasites, or viruses. MK leads to significant morbidity, being the fifth leading cause of blindness worldwide. There is an urgent requirement to better understand pathogenesis in order to develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcomes. Many and MK models have been developed and implemented to meet this aim. Here, we present current and MK model systems, examining their varied design, outputs, reporting standards, and strengths and limitations. Major limitations include their relative simplicity and the perceived inability to study the immune response in these MK models, an aspect widely accepted to play a significant role in MK pathogenesis. Consequently, there remains a dependence on models to study this aspect of MK.

中文翻译：

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微生物角膜炎的体外和离体模型：现在和未来


微生物性角膜炎 (MK) 是由细菌、真菌、寄生虫或病毒引起的角膜感染。 MK 导致严重的发病率，是全球第五大失明原因。迫切需要更好地了解发病机制，以便开发新的诊断和治疗方法来改善患者的治疗结果。为了实现这一目标，许多 MK 模型已经被开发和实施。在这里，我们介绍当前和 MK 模型系统，检查其不同的设计、输出、报告标准以及优点和局限性。主要局限性包括它们相对简单，以及人们认为无法研究这些 MK 模型中的免疫反应，而免疫反应被广泛认为在 MK 发病机制中发挥着重要作用。因此，仍然依赖于模型来研究 MK 的这一方面。