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Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia 2019To evaluate ophthalmic ultrasonographic findings associated with active ocular toxoplasmosis. (Observational Study)
Observational Study
PURPOSE
To evaluate ophthalmic ultrasonographic findings associated with active ocular toxoplasmosis.
METHODS
Forty-seven eyes with active ocular toxoplasmosis in 47 patients were subjected to ocular ultrasonography using the transpalpebral technique (10-MHz transducer) and fundus photography. Patient medical records were retrospectively reviewed.
RESULTS
Ocular ultrasonography revealed vitritis, posterior vitreous detachment, retinal wall thickening, and non-rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in 47 (100%), 36 [76.6%; partial in 12 (25.5%) and total in 23 (48.9%)], 12 (25.5%), and 5 eyes (10.6%). Thirty-five of the 36 eyes with posterior vitreous detachment (97.2%) exhibited posterior hyaloid thickening; moreover, adhesion to the exudative lesion and vitreoschisis were observed in 4 (11.1%) and 12 eyes (25.5%), respectively. Ultrasonography detected the location of the exudative focus in 12 eyes (25.5%).
CONCLUSION
Ultrasonography is helpful for detecting important intraocular findings of acute ocular toxoplasmosis that can be hindered by medial opacity or posterior synechiae.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Chorioretinitis; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Retinal Detachment; Toxoplasmosis, Ocular; Ultrasonography; Uveitis; Vitreous Body; Vitreous Detachment; Young Adult
PubMed: 31038555
DOI: 10.5935/0004-2749.20190063 -
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual... Oct 2017Intravitreal injection of antiangiogenic agents is becoming a standard treatment for neovascular retinal diseases. Sustained release of therapeutics by injecting...
PURPOSE
Intravitreal injection of antiangiogenic agents is becoming a standard treatment for neovascular retinal diseases. Sustained release of therapeutics by injecting colloidal carriers is a promising approach to reduce the injection frequency, which reduces treatment burdens and the risk of complications on patients. Such sustained release often requires carriers to have micrometer-scale dimension that, however, can potentially promote glaucoma and inflammation. Small, polycationic particles can be immobilized in vitreous through multiple cooperative ionic interactions with hyaluronic acid of the vitreous interior, but such particles are generally toxic. Here, we synthesized and examined a biocompatible dextran-based nanocarrier (<50 nm in diameter) conjugated with cationic peptides containing L-arginine with minimal toxicity, aiming to provide sustained release of therapeutic drugs in vitreous.
METHODS
We synthesized the nanocarriers with condensed cholesteryl dextran (CDEX) as core material. Cationic peptides containing 1 to 4 arginine groups, along with fluorescence tags, were conjugated to the CDEX surface. We monitored the carrier diffusion rate ex vivo and half-lives in vivo in rodent vitreous using fluorescence imaging. We evaluated the toxicity by histological examinations at the second, third, eighth, and thirty-sixth week.
RESULTS
The diffusion rate of nanocarriers was inversely related to zeta potential values in freshly isolated vitreous humor. We observed increased half-lives in vivo with increasing zeta potential (up to 240 days). Histological examinations confirmed no adverse effects on ocular morphology and organization.
CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated the potential of L-arginine peptide-conjugated nanocarriers toward safe and sustained therapeutic release system for posterior eye diseases.
Topics: Animals; Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; Arginine; Biocompatible Materials; Cholesterol Esters; Dextrans; Drug Carriers; Fluorescein Angiography; Half-Life; Intravitreal Injections; Nanoparticles; Rats; Rats, Long-Evans; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 28986592
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.17-22160 -
Eye (London, England) Feb 2018
Topics: Aqueous Humor; Eye; Humans; Rheology; Tears; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 29417938
DOI: 10.1038/eye.2017.311 -
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual... Feb 2024To sequence, identify, and perform phylogenetic and recombination analysis on three clinical adenovirus samples taken from the vitreous humor at the Bascom Palmer Eye...
PURPOSE
To sequence, identify, and perform phylogenetic and recombination analysis on three clinical adenovirus samples taken from the vitreous humor at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.
METHODS
The PacBio Sequel II was used to sequence the genomes of the three clinical adenovirus isolates. To identify the isolates, a full genome-based multiple sequence alignment (MSA) of 722 mastadenoviruses was generated using multiple alignment using fast Fourier transform (MAFFT). MAFFT was also used to generate genome-based human adenovirus B (HAdV-B) MSAs, as well as HAdV-B fiber, hexon, and penton protein-based MSAs. To examine recombination within HAdV-B, RF-Net 2 and Bootscan software programs were used.
RESULTS
In the course of classifying three new atypical ocular adenovirus samples, taken from the vitreous humor, we found that all three isolates were HAdV-B species. The three Bascom Palmer HAdV-B genomes were then combined with over 300 HAdV-B genome sequences, including nine ocular HAdV-B genome sequences. Attempts to categorize the penton, hexon, and fiber serotypes using phylogeny of the three Bascom Palmer samples were inconclusive due to incongruence between serotype and phylogeny in the dataset. Recombination analysis using a subset of HAdV-B strains to generate a hybridization network detected recombination between nonhuman primate and human-derived strains, recombination between one HAdV-B strain and the HAdV-E outgroup, and limited recombination between the B1 and B2 clades.
CONCLUSIONS
The discordance between serotype and phylogeny detected in this study suggests that the current classification system does not accurately describe the natural history and phylogenetic relationships among adenoviruses.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Adenoviridae; Vitreous Body; Phylogeny; Serogroup; Adenoviruses, Human; Hexamethonium; Recombination, Genetic
PubMed: 38319669
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.2.12 -
Cells May 2022Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a pediatric intraocular malignancy that is proposed to originate from maturing cone cell precursors in the developing retina. The molecular...
Integrated Analysis of Cancer Tissue and Vitreous Humor from Retinoblastoma Eyes Reveals Unique Tumor-Specific Metabolic and Cellular Pathways in Advanced and Non-Advanced Tumors.
Retinoblastoma (Rb) is a pediatric intraocular malignancy that is proposed to originate from maturing cone cell precursors in the developing retina. The molecular mechanisms underlying the biological and clinical behaviors are important to understand in order to improve the management of advanced-stage tumors. While the genetic causes of Rb are known, an integrated understanding of the gene expression and metabolic processes in tumors of human eyes is deficient. By integrating transcriptomic profiling from tumor tissues and metabolomics from tumorous eye vitreous humor samples (with healthy, age-matched pediatric retinae and vitreous samples as controls), we uncover unique functional associations between genes and metabolites. We found distinct gene expression patterns between clinically advanced and non-advanced Rb. Global metabolomic analysis of the vitreous humor of the same Rb eyes revealed distinctly altered metabolites, indicating how tumor metabolism has diverged from healthy pediatric retina. Several key enzymes that are related to cellular energy production, such as hexokinase 1, were found to be reduced in a manner corresponding to altered metabolites; notably, a reduction in pyruvate levels. Similarly, E2F2 was the most significantly elevated E2F family member in our cohort that is part of the cell cycle regulatory circuit. Ectopic expression of the wild-type gene in the Rb-null Y79 and WERI-Rb1 cells rescued hexokinase 1 expression, while E2F2 levels were repressed. In an additional set of Rb tumor samples and pediatric healthy controls, we further validated differences in the expression of HK1 and E2F2. Through an integrated omics analysis of the transcriptomics and metabolomics of Rb, we uncovered a significantly altered tumor-specific metabolic circuit that reduces its dependence on glycolytic pathways and is governed by Rb1 and HK1.
Topics: Child; Hexokinase; Humans; Retinal Neoplasms; Retinoblastoma; Retinoblastoma Protein; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 35626705
DOI: 10.3390/cells11101668 -
Translational Vision Science &... Mar 2021This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of intravitreal vancomycin and ceftazidime in the aqueous humor of macaque eyes filled with silicone oil in the vitreous cavity.
PURPOSE
This study evaluated the pharmacokinetics of intravitreal vancomycin and ceftazidime in the aqueous humor of macaque eyes filled with silicone oil in the vitreous cavity.
METHODS
Intravitreal vancomycin (1 mg/0.1 mL) and ceftazidime (2 mg/0.1 mL) were injected into four normal macaque eyes, four vitrectomized aphakic macaque eyes, and four previously vitrectomized aphakic macaque eyes filled with silicone oil (silicone oil-filled eyes). Aqueous humor samples (0.1 mL) were obtained just before injection and at 2 and 5 hours and 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days after injection. In each group, corneal endothelial cell density (ECD) measurements and electroretinogram (ERG) recordings were obtained before injection and after 1 month.
RESULTS
The half-lives of vancomycin in the aqueous humor of normal, vitrectomized, and silicone oil-filled eyes were 29.4, 21.1, and 6.8 hours, respectively, and those of ceftazidime were 20.4, 5.2, and 3.1 hours, respectively. The maximum vancomycin aqueous humor concentrations of normal, vitrectomized, and silicone oil-filled eyes were 151.4, 205.6, and 543.5 µg/mL, respectively, and the maximum ceftazidime aqueous humor concentrations are 64.6, 260.0, and 1176.3 µg/mL, respectively. There was no change in ECD, and ERG was not declined after intravitreal injection in all groups.
CONCLUSIONS
The half-lives of vancomycin and ceftazidime in the aqueous humor were shorter in silicone oil-filled eyes than in normal and vitrectomized eyes. High antibiotic concentrations in silicone oil-filled eyes seemed to be well tolerated.
TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE
This study aids in estimating how often an antibiotic should be intravitreally injected for endophthalmitis of silicone oil-filled eyes.
Topics: Animals; Ceftazidime; Macaca; Silicone Oils; Vancomycin; Vitrectomy; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 34003935
DOI: 10.1167/tvst.10.3.1 -
BMC Ophthalmology Mar 2023Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness. Vision threat is particularly severe in patients with retinal neovascularization. However, little is known... (Observational Study)
Observational Study
BACKGROUND
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness. Vision threat is particularly severe in patients with retinal neovascularization. However, little is known about the role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). The goal of this study was to identify lncRNAs involved in PDR.
METHODS
We compared lncRNA expression profiles in the vitreous between patients with PDR and those with idiopathic macular hole (IMH) and between patients with PDR who had received anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy and those who had not. Vitreous samples from patients with PDR and IMH were screened for lncRNAs using microarray-based analysis, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to confirm the microarray results. Bioinformatic analysis was also performed. Moreover, the effect of anti-VEGF therapy was investigated in vitreous samples of patients with PDR treated with anti-VEGF therapy and those who were not.
RESULTS
A total of 1067 differentially expressed noncoding RNA transcripts were found during screening in the vitreous humor of patients with PDR than in those with IMH. Five lncRNAs were subjected to qRT-PCR. RP11-573 J24.1, RP11-787B4.2, RP11-654G14.1, RP11-2A4.3, and RP11-502I4.3 were significantly downregulated; this was validated by the comparison using the microarray data. In addition, 835 differentially expressed noncoding RNA transcripts were found during screening in the vitreous humor of patients with PDR treated with anti-VEGF therapy compared with untreated PDR patients. RP4-631H13.2 was significantly upregulated, which is consistent with the trend of the microarray analysis.
CONCLUSIONS
There were systemic expression differences in the vitreous at the microarray level between patients with PDR and those with IMH and between patients with PDR after anti-VEGF treatment and those that did not receive anti-VEGF treatment. LncRNAs identified in the vitreous humor may be a novel research field for PDR.
Topics: Humans; Diabetic Retinopathy; RNA, Long Noncoding; Vitreous Body; Retinal Neovascularization; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Diabetes Mellitus
PubMed: 36899334
DOI: 10.1186/s12886-023-02817-4 -
Acta Ophthalmologica Mar 2021Inflammatory cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and have been shown to be useful as diagnostic and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
Inflammatory cytokines are involved in the pathogenesis of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and have been shown to be useful as diagnostic and predictive biomarkers. Given the heterogeneity of data within the literature, we aimed to quantitatively summarize data related to inflammatory cytokines in nAMD. A systematic search without year limitation was performed up to 13 April 2020. Studies were included if they provided data on aqueous or vitreous cytokine concentrations in patients with nAMD. Data were extracted from 95 studies that encompassed 3105 study eyes with nAMD and 1209 control eyes. Effect sizes were generated as standardized mean differences (SMDs) of cytokine concentrations between patients with nAMD and controls. Among the 4314 eyes in 95 studies, aqueous concentrations (standard mean difference, 95% confidence interval and p-value) of MCP-1 (0.43, 0.09 to 0.77 and p = 0.01), MIG (0.63, 0.31 to 0.94 and p = 0.0001), TGF-β (0.45, 0.07 to 0.82 and p = 0.02) and VEGF (0.64, 0.31 to 0.98 and p = 0.0001) were significantly higher in patients with nAMD compared to healthy controls. No differences, failed sensitivity analyses or insufficient data were found between patients with nAMD and healthy controls for the concentrations of the remaining cytokines and with all vitreous samples. Previous studies had shown conflicting associations with nAMD for all 27 cytokines assessed. Our analysis indicates multiple candidate cytokines other than VEGF that are implicated in nAMD and adds clarity to the previous literature. This will help focus translational research in nAMD investigating biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Topics: Aqueous Humor; Biomarkers; Cytokines; Humans; Inflammation; Vitreous Body; Wet Macular Degeneration
PubMed: 32602185
DOI: 10.1111/aos.14537 -
Translational Vision Science &... May 2020To investigate the intraocular distribution and kinetics of antibodies and nanoparticles in the experimental model.
PURPOSE
To investigate the intraocular distribution and kinetics of antibodies and nanoparticles in the experimental model.
METHODS
Antibodies (whole IgG 149kDa, antigen-binding fragments 48.39 kDa) and four kinds of nondegradable nanoparticles (25, 50, 200, and 250 nm) were intravitreally injected in the right eye of New Zealand white rabbits. The average optical density and concentration were used to measure intraocular distribution and kinetics.
RESULTS
After intravitreal injection, antibodies were distributed throughout the vitreous humor and eliminated gradually into anterior and posterior routes. Fluorescence intensity decreased 1 day after injection and was not detected 25 days after injection. The nondegradable nanoparticles migrated posteriorly to the retina 7 days after injection onward and anteriorly to the aqueous humor from 1 hour to 1 day after injection. The fluorescence intensity of the nanoparticles was relatively stable in the vitreous humor, compared to antibodies. Nanoparticles accumulated on the internal limiting membrane of the retina with no penetration into deeper retinal tissue, whereas the smaller size 25 nm nanoparticles passed across the ciliary body and moved into choroid, retina, and suprachoroidal space. A gradual decrease of nanoparticles by their sizes in the vitreous after 30 days after injection was described as the percentage ratio: 61.1% (25 nm), 69.1% (50 nm), 78.6% (200nm), and 85.3% (250 nm).
CONCLUSIONS
Our study revealed the in vivo intraocular distribution and kinetics of antibodies and nanoparticles with diverse sizes and the result might help to develop newer intraocular drugs and drug delivery systems to treat retinal diseases.
TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE
These experimental results can be valuable data for human research.
Topics: Animals; Choroid; Intravitreal Injections; Kinetics; Nanoparticles; Rabbits; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 32821517
DOI: 10.1167/tvst.9.6.20 -
PloS One 2017Inflammation is known to be involved in the progression of diabetic retinopathy. We have recently reported that vitreous levels of IL-4, IL-17A, IL-22, IL-31, and TNFα...
Inflammation is known to be involved in the progression of diabetic retinopathy. We have recently reported that vitreous levels of IL-4, IL-17A, IL-22, IL-31, and TNFα are higher than the respective serum levels in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients, and that vitreous levels of these cytokines are higher in PDR than in other non-inflammatory vitreoretinal diseases or uveitis associated with sarcoidosis. In the present study, we investigated inflammatory cytokines including Th17 cell-related cytokines in aqueous humor samples obtained from eyes with PDR, and analyzed the association between the aqueous humor and vitreous fluid levels of individual cytokines. The study group consisted of 31 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients with PDR who underwent cataract surgery and vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage and/or tractional retinal detachment. Undiluted aqueous humor was collected during cataract surgery, and then vitreous fluid was obtained using a 25G vitreous cutter inserted into the mid-vitreous cavity at the beginning of vitrectomy. IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-21, IL-22, IL-23, IL-25, IL-31, IL-33, IFN-γ, soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L), and TNFα levels in the aqueous humor and vitreous fluid were measured using a beads-array system. Although IL-17A was detected in the aqueous humor of eyes with PDR and the level correlated with IL-17A level in the vitreous fluid, both percent detectable and level of IL-17A in the aqueous humor were significantly lower than those in the vitreous fluid. Vitreous IL-17A level was related significantly to IL-10, IL-22, and TNFα levels in aqueous humor as well as in vitreous fluid, On the other hand, aqueous IL-17A level was not related significantly to aqueous or vitreous levels of IL-10, IL-22 or TNFα level. The present study demonstrated that IL-17A level and detectable rate in the aqueous humor of patients with PDR are markedly lower than those in the vitreous fluid and aqueous IL-17A does not correlate with vitreous levels of other cytokines, and hence should not be used as a surrogate for IL-17A in the vitreous fluid.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aqueous Humor; Cytokines; Diabetic Retinopathy; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Th17 Cells; Vitreous Body
PubMed: 28558009
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178230