Three-year clinical outcome of XEN45 Gel Stent implantation versus trabeculectomy in patients with open angle glaucoma.

Objective: To reliably compare the three-year clinical outcome and safety of XEN45 Gel Stent implantation (XEN) vs. trabeculectomy (TRAB) in patients with glaucoma.

Subject/methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study with patients with primary open angle or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma with uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP) undergoing XEN or TRAB at the Innsbruck University Clinic of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Austria and analysed changes in IOP, numbers of IOP-lowering medications, and complete surgical success (i.

Effects of glaucoma surgery on visual field progression in open-angle glaucoma considering the floor effect.

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to investigate whether trabeculectomy (TRAB) and XEN® Gel Stent implantation (XEN) - both filtrating surgery techniques - can slow down the deterioration of visual field (VF) parameters considering the floor effect, which could lead to a misestimation of pre- and postoperative VF rate of progression (ROP).

Methods: Included in this study were patients with open-angle glaucoma, who underwent either TRAB or XEN® gel stent implantation and who had at least three VF tests before and after surgery, over an observation period of 13 years. The annual ROP of the mean defect (MD) and the square root of loss variance (sLV) were calculated with two different censoring thresholds: by censored regression and by ordinary least squares regression (OLSR).

Two-year outcomes of minimally invasive XEN Gel Stent implantation in primary open-angle and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of XEN Gel Stent implantation in the treatment of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (XFG) regarding the reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) and number of IOP-lowering medications over 2 years.

Methods: In this retrospective, observational, single-centre study, patients with POAG or XFG underwent implantation of the XEN Gel Stent with or without combined phacoemulsification. Changes in mean IOP, mean number of IOP-lowering medications, number of postoperative interventions, complete or qualified surgical success rate (defined as IOP < 18 mmHg without or with IOP-lowering medication, respectively) and complete surgical failure rate (defined as the necessity of a glaucoma-related secondary surgical intervention or loss of light perception) were assessed 12 months (12M) and 24 months (24M) postoperatively.

N-chlorotaurine and its analogues N,N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine and N-monochloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine are safe and effective bactericidal agents in ex vivo corneal infection models.

Purpose: N-chlorotaurine (NCT) and its analogues N-monochloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine (NVC-612) and N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine (NVC-422) are new anti-infectives for topical treatment for conjunctivitis. The aim of this study was to show that these compounds are safe in an EpiOcular model and effective in corneas infected ex vivo.

Methods: Corneal buttons were excised from porcine eyes.

Secretoneurin, substance P and neuropeptide Y in the oxygen-induced retinopathy in C57Bl/6N mice.

In this study, we investigated whether the proangiogenic neuropeptides secretoneurin (SN), substance P (SP), and neuropeptide Y (NPY) contribute to the development of abnormal neovascularization in the oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model in mice. By exposing litters of C57Bl/6N mice to 75% oxygen from postnatal day 7 (P7) until postnatal day 11 (P11) and then returning them to normoxic conditions, retinal ischemia and subsequent neovascularization on the retinal surface were induced. Retinae were dissected on P9, P11, P12-P14, P16 and P20, and the concentrations of SN, SP, NPY and VEGF determined by radioimmunoassay or ELISA.

PE-11, a peptide derived from chromogranin B, in the rat eye.

The aim of the study was to investigate the presence and distribution of PE-11, a peptide derived from chromogranin B, in the rat eye. For this purpose, newborn rats were injected with a single dosage of 50mg/kg capsaicin subcutaneously under the neck fold and after three months, particular eye tissues were dissected and the concentration of PE-11-like immunoreactivity was determined by radioimmunoassay. Furthermore, PE-11-like immunoreactivities were characterized in an extract of the rat eye by reversed phase HPLC.

Secretoneurin and the tachykinins substance P and neurokinin-A/B in NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in the rat retina.

In a recent investigation using the NMDA-excitotoxicity model in the rat retina, we found that, whereas, following intravitreal injection of NMDA, a time-dependent decrease of the levels of a neuropeptide, namely vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), was fully counteracted by topical treatment with flunarizine eye drops, the levels of pituitary adenylate-cyclase activating peptide-38 (PACAP-38), another neuropeptide, remained unchanged. The aim of the present study was to find out if NMDA causes reduction in the levels of other neuropeptides such as secretoneurin (SN), neurokinin-A/B (NKA/NKB) and substance P (SP), and if so, whether flunarizine has the ability to counteract this effect or prevent such reduction. The reduction of the levels of SN and NKA/NKB 14 days after intravitreal injection of 2 μl of 100 nmol NMDA into one eye was more pronounced than after 7 days; topical flunarizine had a slight counteracting effect, but could not prevent the decrease in the levels of these peptides.

VIP, PACAP-38, BDNF and ADNP in NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in the rat retina.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide-38 (PACAP-38), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) and the VIP-associated glial protein activity-dependent neuroprotective protein (ADNP) in the rat retina. These elements have well-documented neuroprotective properties and may thus be integrated in endogenous neuroprotective mechanisms in the retina which break down in NMDA excitotoxicity.

Methods: A volume of 2 μl of 100 nmol NMDA was intravitreally injected into one eye of rats, the untreated eye served as a control.

CaV1.3 L-type Ca2+ channels modulate depression-like behaviour in mice independent of deaf phenotype.

Mounting evidence suggests that voltage-gated L-type Ca2+ channels can modulate affective behaviour. We therefore explored the role of CaV1.3 L-type Ca2+ channels in depression- and anxiety-like behaviours using CaV1.

Tolerability of N-chlorotaurine plus ammonium chloride in the rabbit and human eye--a phase 1 clinical study.

Background: N-chlorotaurine (NCT), an endogenous mild antiseptic, is well-tolerated by application to the human conjunctiva and has been shown to offer beneficial effects in infectious conjunctivitis. Animal tests revealed improved efficacy of a combination of NCT with ammonium chloride in adenoviral conjunctivitis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the tolerability of NCT plus ammonium chloride in the healthy rabbit and human eye.

Substance P and secretoneurin in vitreous aspirates of patients with various vitreoretinal diseases.

By means of highly sensitive radioimmunoassays, the levels of substance P (SP) and secretoneurin (SN) were detected in vitreous aspirates of patients with macular holes which served as controls, in patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR), active proliferative diabetic retinopathy (active PDR), inactive PDR, rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). Furthermore, SN-like immunoreactivities were characterized by reversed phase-HPLC. The concentration of SN was more than 20-fold higher in macular holes when compared with SP and reversed phase HPLC revealed evidence that the vitreous levels of SN represent authentic SN.

The phenotype of early-onset retinal degeneration in persons with RDH12 mutations.

Purpose: To describe the retinal dystrophy phenotype associated with mutations in RDH12, the gene encoding a retinoid dehydrogenase/reductase expressed in the photoreceptor cells.

Methods: Sixteen persons from 12 families with pathogenic RDH12 mutations on both alleles were studied. Retinal phenotypes were characterized by ophthalmic examination, including psychophysical and standardized electrophysiological methods and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG).

Neurokinin A and neurokinin B in the human retina.

Very recently, the authors found levels of neurokinin (NK) A-like immunoreactivities in the human retina which were more than five times higher than those of substance P (SP). The present study aimed to find out how many of these immunoreactivities can be attributed to NKA and NKB and then the exact distribution pattern of both NKA and NKB was evaluated in the human retina and compared with that of SP. For this purpose, NKA-like immunoreactivities were characterized in the human retina by reversed phase HPLC followed by radioimmunoassay using the K12 antibody which recognizes both NKA and NKB.

Peptidergic nerves in the eye, their source and potential pathophysiological relevance.

Over the last five decades, several neuropeptides have been discovered which subsequently have been found to be highly conserved during evolution, to be widely distributed both in the central and peripheral nervous system and which act as neurotransmitters and/or neuromodulators. In the eye, the first peptide to be explored was substance P which was reported to be present in the retina but also in peripherally innervated tissues of the eye. Substance P is certainly the best characterized peptide which has been found in sensory neurons innervating the eye.

A new, X-linked endothelial corneal dystrophy.

Purpose: To describe the clinical spectrum, the histopathologic findings obtained from one corneal button, and the genetic mapping of an X-linked endothelial corneal dystrophy (XECD).

Design: Observational case series and experimental study.

Methods: We examined a total of 60 members of a family with this dystrophy at the slit-lamp.

Secretoneurin in the peripheral ocular innervation.

Purpose: To evaluate whether secretoneurin represents a sensory neuropeptide innervating the anterior segment of the eye.

Methods: The presence and distribution of secretoneurin was investigated in human eyes by radioimmunoassay and immunofluorescence and compared with that of the rat eye. The source of secretoneurin-positive nerves in the eye was established by measuring the concentration in eye tissues, the trigeminal and superior cervical ganglia both in control rats and in rats treated with capsaicin, and by performing immunofluorescence in one rat subjected to sympathectomy.

Neurokinin a is a main constituent of sensory neurons innervating the anterior segment of the eye.

Purpose: To study the innervation pattern of the anterior segment of the eye by neurokinin (NK)-A-immunoreactive nerves and to determine their sensory origin.

Methods: The presence and distribution of NKA was examined in human eyes by radioimmunoassay and immunofluorescence. The source of nerves was determined by measuring the concentration of NKA in the trigeminal ganglion (TG) in comparison with that of the classic sensory peptides substance P (SP) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and in eye tissues in capsaicin-pretreated rats versus control subjects.

Mutations in RDH12 encoding a photoreceptor cell retinol dehydrogenase cause childhood-onset severe retinal dystrophy.

We identified three consanguineous Austrian kindreds with 15 members affected by autosomal recessive childhood-onset severe retinal dystrophy, a genetically heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by degeneration of the photoreceptor cells. A whole-genome scan by microarray analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (ref. 2) identified a founder haplotype and defined a critical interval of 1.

Joubert-like syndrome unlinked to known candidate loci.

We observed the Joubert syndrome (JS) associated with bilateral morning glory disk anomaly and cystic dysplastic kidneys in three patients from a consanguineous kindred. Homozygosity mapping excluded three JS candidate loci as sites harboring the disease gene. We thus delineate an autosomal recessive disorder, distinct from JS and related conditions.