Evidence of Pepsin-Related Ocular Surface Damage and Dry Eye (PROD Syndrome) in Patients with Laryngopharyngeal Reflux.

Background: patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) showed detectable levels of tear pepsin that explain the nasolacrimal obstruction. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients with LPR show ocular surface changes and to investigate the relationship between lacrimal pepsin concentration and ocular alterations.

Methods: Fifty patients with positive endoscopic signs for LPR and an equal or higher score of 13 and 7 for Reflux Symptom Index and Reflux Finding Score were enrolled.

Properly Substituted Cyclic Bis-(2-bromobenzylidene) Compounds Behaved as Dual p300/CARM1 Inhibitors and Induced Apoptosis in Cancer Cells.

Bis-(3-bromo-4-hydroxy)benzylidene cyclic compounds have been reported by us as epigenetic multiple ligands, but different substitutions at the two wings provided analogues with selective inhibition. Since the 1-benzyl-3,5-bis(()-3-bromobenzylidene)piperidin-4-one displayed dual p300/EZH2 inhibition joined to cancer-selective cell death in a panel of tumor cells and in in vivo xenograft models, we prepared a series of bis(()-2-bromobenzylidene) cyclic compounds - to test in biochemical (p300, PCAF, SIRT1/2, EZH2, and CARM1) and cellular (NB4, U937, MCF-7, SH-SY5Y) assays. The majority of - exhibited potent dual p300 and CARM1 inhibition, sometimes reaching the submicromolar level, and induction of apoptosis mainly in the tested leukemia cell lines.

Visual Acuity, and Macular and Peripapillary Thickness in High Myopia.

Purpose: To investigate best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and choroidal and retinal thickness values between high myopes without myopic maculopathy and emmetropes.

Materials And Methods: Case control study where 53 myopes with axial length (AL) above 26 mm without myopic maculopathy and 53 age-matched emmetropes with AL between 21.50 and 24.

Sturge-Weber Syndrome Associated with Monolateral Ocular Melanocytosis, Iris Mammillations, and Diffuse Choroidal Haemangioma.

We present the case of a 12-year-old boy with Sturge-Weber syndrome and ocular melanocytosis who presented with bilateral naevus flammeus of the face and hyperpigmentation of the right iris associated with ipsilateral iris mammillations. The patient had glaucoma and a diffuse choroidal haemangioma of the right eye. Optical coherence tomography of the anterior segment confirmed iris hyper-pigmentation and did not show abnormalities of the chamber angle structures.

An Update on the Ophthalmologic Features in the Phakomatoses.

Neurofibromatosis type 1, tuberous sclerosis complex, and Von Hippel-Lindau disease, historically classified as the phakomatoses, are hereditary multisystem disorders characterized by the presence of hamartoma, which carry the risk of malignant transformation. The alteration of tumor suppressor genes seems to be at the basis of their pathophysiogenetic mechanism. Lisch and choroidal nodules in neurofibromatosis type 1, retinal astrocytomas in tuberous sclerosis complex, and retinal capillary hemangioma in Von Hippel-Lindau disease are the principal ophthalmic hamartomatous manifestations.

An Update on Oculodermal Melanocytosis and Rare Associated Conditions.

Oculodermal melanocytosis (ODM) is a rare disease, which is characterized by hyperpigmentation of facial skin and several parts of the eye, such as the sclera, conjunctiva, cornea, iris, ciliary body, and choroid. The condition usually affects the Asian female population. The most typical presenting ocular sign is iris heterocromia.

Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome and Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma: A Review of the Literature with Updates on Surgical Management.

Pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PES) is a systemic disorder caused by progressive accumulation of extracellular material over various tissues. PES usually determines increased intraocular pressure, changes in the anatomical aspects of the optic nerve, and visual field alterations leading to the diagnosis of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG). Use of topical medical treatment usually leads to poor results in terms of long-term follow-up but many surgical techniques, such as Argon Laser or Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty, have been proposed for the management of PEG affected patients.

Investigation of pepsin in tears of children with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease.

Objectives: Numerous investigations postulated that laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is implicated in the pathogenesis of various upper airway inflammatory diseases as sinusitis or dacryostenosis. The presence of pepsin in tears might be confirmed the presuntive hypothesis of the arrival in the nasolacrimal ducts and precorneal tears film through the laryngopharyngeal reflux of either gastric acid or stomach secretions (pepsin) with inflammatory potentialities. The aim of this preliminary study was to identify the presence or absence of pepsin in the tears collected from children with a high suspicion of LPR who underwent 24-h pH (MII-pH) monitoring to confirm the disease.

SPECTRAL DOMAIN OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY EVIDENCE OF RETINAL NERVE FIBER LAYER AND GANGLION CELL LOSS IN ADULT PATIENTS WITH NEUROFIBROMATOSIS TYPE 1.

Purpose: To evaluate peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer, macular retinal nerve fiber layer, and ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer thickness and analyze their correlations in adult patients with neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) and disease-free controls.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed at the Azienda Policlinico Umberto I, University of Rome "La Sapienza." All participants underwent complete ophthalmologic examination.

Morphologic and vasculature features of the choroid and associated choroid-retinal thickness alterations in neurofibromatosis type 1.

Background/aims: A normal structural and functional choroid is essential in supplying blood flow to the retina. Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a neurocristopathy where the choroid is altered due to the presence of nodules. The present transversal study was conducted to examine choroidal nodules and their effect on choroidal and retinal thickness in NF1 patients.

Potential regulatory molecules in the human trabecular meshwork of patients with glaucoma: immunohistochemical profile of a number of inflammatory cytokines.

Glaucoma occurs when there are imbalances between the production and the drainage of the eye liquid. The vast majority of the aqueous humor leaves the eye through the trabecular meshwork (TM). The cause of hypertonicity may be due to an alteration in the thickness of the TM.

Role of the dopaminergic system in the development of myopia in children and adolescents.

This review summarizes the experimental evidence that supports the role of dopamine in the regulation of ocular axial growth. The most important functions attributed to dopamine are light adaptation and regulation of the retinal circadian rhythm. An increase of the retinal levels of dopamine activates D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors present throughout the retina, generating a signal that inhibits axial growth once the eye has reached emmetropization.

Curcumin: therapeutical potential in ophthalmology.

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is the main curcuminoid of the popular Indian spice turmeric (Curcuma longa). In the last 50 years, in vitro and in vivo experiments supported the main role of polyphenols and curcumin for the prevention and treatment of many different inflammatory diseases and tumors.The anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor properties of curcumin are due to different cellular mechanisms: this compound, in fact, produces different responses in different cell types.

Iatrogenic dry eye disease: an eledoisin/carnitine and osmolyte drops study.

Background: To evaluate the effects of an eye drop containing eledoisin and carnitine in patients suffering from primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular discomfort syndrome secondary to a chronically treated with eye drops containing benzalkonium chloride (BAK) as preservative. The dry eye disease was defined as a multifactorial drop disease concerning tears and ocular surface, which brings to discomfort symptoms and visual disorders with potential damage to the ocular surface. Several studies underlined the beneficial effects of secretagogues drugs, such as eledoisin.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease and the presence of pepsin in the tears.

The nasolacrimal duct in association with the lacrimal puncta, lacrimal canaliculi and lacrimal sac functions to collect and drain the tear film into the nasal cavity at the inferior nasal meatus where a fold of nasal mucosa, the so-called valve of Hasner, prevents mucous from entering the nose. High-resolution computed tomography demonstrated air inside the sac and nasolacrimal duct in approximately 29.3% of healthy patients suggesting that the system is not completely competent and that air and secretions might reach the precorneal film.

Surgical management by means of electroretinographic examination during extracorporeal circulation.

Background: Neurological and/or neuropsychological damages are important complications of cardiosurgical interventions. This study determined if the timing of the electroretinographic (ERG) ocular exam can assess intraoperative brain damage of patients supported by extracorporeal circulation (ECC) during cardiosurgical interventions.

Materials And Methods: The authors illustrate an ERG technique being able to evaluate on 12 patients during cardiosurgical interventions and in conditions of ECC, both hypothermic and normothermic, the possibility to forecast the potential neurological and/or neuropsychological damages.