Response of Diabetic Macular Edema to Anti-VEGF Medications Correlates with Improvement in Macular Vessel Architecture Measured with OCT Angiography.

Purpose: Improvements in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central subfield thickness (CST) have been well documented after intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF medications in diabetic macular edema (DME); however, their effect on the vasculature of the macula in diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains poorly understood. Our aim was to explore the effect of intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF on parameters of retinal vascular microstructure in DR with OCT angiography (OCTA).

Design: Retrospective study of adult patients with DME that were treated with anti-VEGF intravitreal injections at the University of Illinois at Chicago between 2017 and 2022.

Manifestation of Pathology in Animal Models of Diabetic Retinopathy Is Delayed from the Onset of Diabetes.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common complication that develops in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and is the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Fortunately, sight-threatening forms of DR develop only after several decades of DM. This well-documented resilience to DR suggests that the retina is capable of protecting itself from DM-related damage and also that accumulation of such damage occurs only after deterioration of this resilience.

Impact of Part-time Occlusion on Visual Outcomes in Pediatric Patients With Optic Nerve Pathology.

The visual outcomes of seven children with specific optic nerve pathologies and coexisting amblyopia after at least 1 year of part-time patching demonstrated a visual acuity improvement of greater than 0.1 logMAR. The results suggest that part-time patching may lead to improvement in visual function even in the setting of optic nerve pathology, albeit with a more limited response compared to full-time patching.

BDNF as a Mediator of Antidepressant Response: Recent Advances and Lifestyle Interactions.

Conventional antidepressants are widely employed in several psychiatric and neurologic disorders, yet the mechanisms underlying their delayed and partial therapeutic effects are only gradually being understood. This narrative review provides an up-to-date overview of the interplay between antidepressant treatment and Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) signaling. In addition, the impact of nutritional, environmental and physiological factors on BDNF and the antidepressant response is outlined.

Features of speech and swallowing dysfunction in pre-ataxic spinocerebellar ataxia type 2.

Objective: To determine whether objective and quantitative assessment of dysarthria and dysphagia in spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2), specifically at pre-ataxic and early disease phases, can act as sensitive disease markers.

Methods: Forty-six individuals (16 with pre-ataxic SCA2, 14 with early-stage ataxic SCA2, and 16 healthy controls) were recruited in Holguin, Cuba. All participants underwent a comprehensive battery of assessments including objective acoustic analysis, clinician-derived ratings of speech function and swallowing, and quality of life assessments of swallowing.

Reduced FOXM1 Expression Limits Trophoblast Migration and Angiogenesis and Is Associated With Preeclampsia.

Trophoblast cells are often compared to highly invasive carcinoma cells due to their capacity to proliferate in hypoxic conditions and to exhibit analogous vascular, proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities. Thus, genes that are important for tumorigenesis, such as forkhead box M1 ( FOXM1) may also be involved in processes of trophoblast invasion. Indeed, we found Foxm1 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels decreased as gestational age increased in rat's placentae.

Diabetic concentrations of metformin inhibit platelet-mediated ovarian cancer cell progression.

Clinical studies have suggested a survival benefit in ovarian cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus taking metformin, however the mechanism by which diabetic concentrations of metformin could deliver this effect is still poorly understood. Platelets not only represent an important reservoir of growth factors and angiogenic regulators, they are also known to participate in the tumor microenvironment implicated in tumor growth and dissemination. Herein, we investigated if diabetic concentrations of metformin could impinge upon the previously reported observation that platelet induces an increase in the tube forming capacity of endothelial cells (angiogenesis) and upon ovarian cancer cell aggressiveness.

Low vitamin D-modulated calcium-regulating proteins in psoriasis vulgaris plaques: S100A7 overexpression depends on joint involvement.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin disease with or without joint involvement. In this disease, the thickened epidermis and impaired barrier are associated with altered calcium gradients. Calcium and vitamin D are known to play important roles in keratinocyte differentiation and bone metabolism.

Effect of Vitamin D on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Patients with Psoriasis Vulgaris and Psoriatic Arthritis.

Background: Psoriasis, a chronic skin disease with or without joint inflammation, has increased circulating proinflammatory cytokine levels. Vitamin D is involved in calcium homeostasis, bone formation, osteoclastogenesis and osteoclast activity, as well as regulation of immune response. We aimed to study osteoclast differentiation and cytokine secretion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis, in response to 1,25(OH)2D3.

Low DEFB4 copy number and high systemic hBD-2 and IL-22 levels are associated with dermatophytosis.

Dermatophytes initiate dermatophytosis, but susceptibility to infection is dictated by host genetic factors, although the role of some of these-such as human beta-defensin 2 (hBD-2) genomic (DEFB4) copy number (CN) variation and its induction by IL-22-remains unclear. This was investigated in this cross-sectional study in 442 unrelated Caucasian subjects, including 195 healthy controls and 247 dermatophytosis patients who were divided into five subgroups according to clinical presentation. DNA samples were evaluated for DEFB4 CN variation by relative quantification using the comparative CT method, and serum hBD-2 and IL-22 levels were determined by ELISA.

Beta-defensin-2 genomic copy number variation and chronic periodontitis.

Chronic periodontitis (ChP) is a multifactorial disease influenced by microbial and host genetic variability; however, the role of beta-defensin-2 genomic (DEFB4) copy number (CN) variation (V) in ChP remains unknown. The association of the occurrence and severity of ChP and DEFB4 CNV was analyzed. Our study included 227 unrelated Caucasians, that is, 136 ChP patients (combined ChP) and 91 control individuals.

Histamine modulates γδ-T lymphocyte migration and cytotoxicity, via Gi and Gs protein-coupled signalling pathways.

Background And Purpose: The biogenic amine, histamine plays a pathophysiological regulatory role in cellular processes of a variety of immune cells. This work analyses the actions of histamine on γδ-T lymphocytes, isolated from human peripheral blood, which are critically involved in immunological surveillance of tumours.

Experimental Approach: We have analysed effects of histamine on the intracellular calcium, actin reorganization, migratory response and the interaction of human γδ T cells with tumour cells such as the A2058 human melanoma cell line, the human Burkitt's Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell line Raji, the T-lymphoblastic lymphoma cell line Jurkat and the natural killer cell-sensitive erythroleukaemia cell line, K562.

Toxins-useful biochemical tools for leukocyte research.

Leukocytes are a heterogeneous group of cells that display differences in anatomic localization, cell surface phenotype, and function. The different subtypes include e.g.

Retina and optic tectum interact to modulate taurine effect on goldfish and rat retinal explants outgrowth.

The medium from cultured optic tectum of the goldfish intact or at various days after optic nerve crush, or the co-culture of this optic tectum with post-crush goldfish retinal explants plating in the absence of fetal calf serum, but in the presence of glucose, modulate its outgrowth. The a dition of taurine did not further stimulate outgrowth but rather inhibited it in the presence of optic tectum. These processes were related to calcium fluxes and taurine transport into the cells.

Taurine concentration in human gliomas and meningiomas: tumoral, peritumoral, and extratumoral tissue.

Taurine concentrations were determined in gliomas from 16 patients and in meningiomas from 15 patients. After imaging analysis and clinical evaluation to consider the level of functional deterioration by the scale of Karnosky, tissue was obtained by surgery. Tumoral, peritumoral and extratumoral samples were taken and analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detector.

Taurine trophic modulation of goldfish retinal outgrowth and its interaction with the optic tectum.

Goldfish retinal explant outgrowth in the presence of fetal calf serum is stimulated by taurine. In the absence of it, but with glucose in the medium, length of neurites is still elevated by the amino acid. Using the medium in the presence of glucose, but in the absence of fetal calf serum, we explored the effect of optic tectum medium from cultures of them coming from goldfish without crush of the optic nerve or 3, 5, 10, 14 and 20 days after crush.

Taurine effect on neuritic outgrowth from goldfish retinal explants in the absence and presence of fetal calf serum.

Post-crush goldfish retinal explants were cultured in the absence of fetal calf serum and in the presence of calcium, albumin, glucose or taurine. There was an increase in length and density of the neurites in a dose-dependent manner when fetal calf serum was added to the medium. The addition of calcium to the basic medium, Leibovitz, produced a small increase in neuritic outgrowth at low concentrations, but inhibited outgrowth at higher levels.

Medium requirements for neuritic outgrowth from goldfish retinal explants and the trophic effect of taurine.

The use of culture media of known composition are necessary for studying the role of trophic molecules. Since most of the in vitro research on regeneration of the optic nerve has been performed in the presence of fetal calf serum, the aim of this study was to obtain a medium in which the neuritic outgrowth from post-crush goldfish retinal explants could take place without adding fetal calf serum. After the lesion of the optic nerve (10 days), the retina of goldfish was dissected and explants were cultured for 5 and 10 days in the absence or in the presence of fetal calf serum, at which time the neuritic outgrowth was determined.

Taurine as a micronutrient in development and regeneration of the central nervous system.

Taurine is an amino acid known to possess trophic properties in the central nervous system. The relevance of its presence in maternal milk is related to its role as an essential nutrient. Taurine deficiency around birth produces anatomical and functional modifications in the brain and in the retina.

Regulation of high affinity taurine transport in goldfish and rat retinal cells.

Adaptive regulation and modulation by phosphorylation are mechanisms by which some cells control taurine transport. Goldfish and rat retinal cells were incubated with the activator of protein kinase C, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu), or the inhibitor of protein phosphatases, okadaic acid (OKA). OKA, 1 nM, inhibited the uptake of taurine at short period of incubation in goldfish retinal cells, and at low concentrations in rat retinal cells incubated with the inhibitor for 1 h.