Laboratory Investigations in Infectious Uveitis

Laboratory investigations can play a significant role in the diagnosis and decision-making of infectious uveitis. Though direct demonstration of the infective organism remains the gold standard of diagnosis, it is not always possible with ocular tissues. Recent advancements in molecular techniques have made it possible to overcome these limitations and to identify the genomic DNA of pathogens associated with infectious uveitis. Techniques such as next-generation sequencing can analyze all DNA-based lifeforms, regardless of whether they are bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites and have been used in the laboratory diagnosis of intraocular inflammation. On the other hand, serological tests, though they dominate the diagnostic landscape of various infectious etiologies in uveitis in routine clinical practice, have varied specificities and sensitivities in different infectious uveitis. In this review, we focus on various methods of laboratory diagnosis of infectious uveitis and discuss the recent advances in molecular diagnosis and their role in various infectious clinical entities.