Morphological Change in Optical Coherence Tomography and Functional Outcomes in Epiretinal Membrane Peeling with or without SF6 Tamponade.

Background: The present study compares the anatomical and functional outcomes (best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT)) among membrane peeling with or without SF6 tamponade in patients with epiretinal membrane.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients diagnosed with macular pucker who underwent pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peeling in a tertiary center in Taiwan from January 2021 to December 2022. Subjects were categorized into with or without SF6 tamponade groups (SF6 group and BSS group).

Application of intravitreal aflibercept to treat bilateral exudative retinal detachment secondary to retinitis pigmentosa: Case report and review of literature.

Rationale: Exudative retinal detachment with macular edema is one of the complications of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). In this report, we present a case who treated with intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in RP-related exudative retinal detachment and subsequently improved with favorable outcome.

Patient Concern: A 49-year-old man, with a history of RP, had persistent blurred vision and was newly diagnosed with bilateral shallow exudative retinal detachment and macular edema.

Structural Dynamics Role of AGG Interruptions in Inhibition CGG Repeat Expansion Associated with Fragile X Syndrome.

Abnormal expansion of trinucleotide CGG repeats is responsible for Fragile X syndrome. AGG interruptions in CGG repeat tracts were found in most healthy individuals, suggesting a crucial role in preventing disease-prone repeat expansion. Previous biophysics studies emphasize a difference in the secondary structure affected by AGG interruptions.

Identification of Andrographolide as an Agonist of Bile Acid TGR5 Receptor in a Cell Line to Demonstrate the Reduction in Hyperglycemia in Type-1 Diabetic Rats.

Andrographolide (ADG) is contained in bitter plants, and its effects are widely thought to be associated with taste receptors. The current study used animal studies and cell lines to investigate the role of ADG in diabetic models. The Takeda G-protein-coupled receptor (TGR5) was directly influenced by ADG, and this boosted GLP-1 synthesis in CHO-K1 cells transfected with the TGR5 gene.

Intravitreal Aflibercept for Patients with Acute Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy: A Retrospective Trial.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether intravitreal aflibercept was safe and effective in patients with acute nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).

Methods: This was a chart study of 25 individuals with acute NAION (25 eyes). An intravitreal injection of 2 mg/0.

11--Sinulariolide Acetate-induced Apoptosis in Oral Cancer Cells Is Regulated by FOXO Through Inhibition of PI3K/AKT Pathway.

Background/aim: Oral cancer is a general term for carcinomas that occur around the oral tissues, and most are squamous cell carcinoma. Oral cancer is a common disease among Taiwanese males and poses a great threat to national health owing to its high mortality rate. In this study, we used the CAL-27 oral cancer cell lines as in vitro models to investigate the pathways involved in 11-epi-sinulariolide acetate (11-epi-SA)-induced apoptosis.

The Incident Ocular Diseases Related to Chemotherapy in Cancer Patients are Associated with Increasing Risk of Incident Stroke.

Background: In addition to cardiotoxicity, ocular toxicity induced by chemotherapeutic agents is not uncommon.

Objective: This study aimed to explore the association between ocular adverse events and major adverse cardiovascular events (composite endpoint) caused by chemotherapy, and whether specific ocular events could be potential predictors of some specific components of the composite endpoint.

Methods: A total of 5378 newly diagnosed patients (age > 18 y/o) with any malignancy or metastatic solid tumors who received chemotherapy from January 1997 to December 2010 were enrolled from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

Identification of microbial community in the urban environment: The concordance between conventional culture and nanopore 16S rRNA sequencing.

Introduction: Microbes in the built environment have been implicated as a source of infectious diseases. Bacterial culture is the standard method for assessing the risk of exposure to pathogens in urban environments, but this method only accounts for <1% of the diversity of bacteria. Recently, full-length 16S rRNA gene analysis using nanopore sequencing has been applied for microbial evaluations, resulting in a rise in the development of long-read taxonomic tools for species-level classification.

Retinal protective effect of curcumin metabolite hexahydrocurcumin against blue light-induced RPE damage.

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. We have previously demonstrated that blue light can damage RPE cells and their underlying mechanisms. We found that hexahydrocurcumin (HHC), a metabolite of curcumin, had better retinal protection than curcumin.

Bolus Injection of Liraglutide Raises Plasma Glucose in Normal Rats by Activating Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Receptor in the Brain.

Diabetes is commonly treated with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists including liraglutide and others. However, liraglutide was found to raise plasma glucose levels in normal rats. The current study aims to determine how liraglutide causes this contentious condition in rats, both normal and diabetic.

The Role of Nonapoptotic Programmed Cell Death - Ferroptosis, Necroptosis, and Pyroptosis - in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Treatment.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most lethal cancer, with a dismal 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. It is estimated that approximately 80% of pancreatic ductal carcinoma (PDAC) patients are diagnosed at an advanced or metastatic stage. Hence, most patients are not appropriate candidates for surgical resection and therefore require systemic chemotherapy.

Myricetin Increases Circulating Adropin Level after Activation of Glucagon-like Peptide 1 (GLP-1) Receptor in Type-1 Diabetic Rats.

Myricetin is a common plant-derived flavonoid, considered an agonist of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor. It improves glycemic control and helps reduce body weight in diabetic subjects. The potential mechanisms of action of myricetin in this context might be enhancing the secretion of β-endorphin (BER) to activate peripheral μ-opioid receptors.

Major Plant in Herbal Mixture Gan-Mai-Da-Zao for the Alleviation of Depression in Rat Models.

Gan-Mai-Da-Zao (GMDZ) is a well-known product in Chinese traditional medicine and includes three major plants: blighted wheat (Fu Mai), licorice (Gan Cao), and jujube (Da Zao). GMDZ is widely used as an efficacious and well-tolerated prescription for depression in clinics. The present study was designed to investigate the main plant of GMDZ for its antidepressant-like effect using the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) model on rats who received an injection with p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) to produce the chemical model.

Puf-A promotes cancer progression by interacting with nucleophosmin in nucleolus.

Previously, we identified Puf-A as a novel member of Puf-family RNA-binding proteins; however, its biological functions remain obscure. Analysis of tumor samples of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) showed that high Puf-A expression correlated with high histology grade and abnormal p53 status. Kaplan-Meier curve for overall survival revealed high expression of Puf-A to predict poor prognosis in stage I NSCLC.