Exfoliation Syndrome: A Disease of Autophagy and LOXL1 Proteopathy.

Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is an age-related disease involving the deposition of aggregated fibrillar material (exfoliation material) at extracellular matrices in tissues that synthesize elastic fibers. Its main morbidity is in the eye, where exfoliation material accumulations form on the surface of the ciliary body, iris, and lens. Exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) occurs in a high proportion of persons with XFS and can be a rapidly progressing disease.

Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency and Treatment with Stem Cell Transplantation.

The cornea is the outermost tissue of the eye and it must be transparent for the maintenance of good visual function. The superficial epithelium of the cornea, which is renewed continuously by corneal stem cells, plays a critical role in the permanence of this transparency. These stem cells are localized at the cornea-conjunctival transition zone, referred to as the limbus.

[Ocular Surface Reconstruction with Cultivated Limbal Epithelial Cells in Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency: One-year Follow-up Results].

Purpose: To evaluate the 1-year follow-up results of cultivated limbal epithelial cell (CLEC) transplantation in unilateral limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).

Material And Method: One-year follow-up results of five unilateral LSCD patients who had undergone CLEC transplantation were evaluated. Parameters for this evaluation were: fluorescein staining of ocular surface, corneal vascularization and status of epithelium with slit lamp, and visual acuity.