Motilin Receptor Expression Found in the Human Main and Accessory Lacrimal Glands.

Introduction: In this study, we investigated the presence of motilin receptors (MR) in adnexal tissue including the human main lacrimal gland.

Method: 17 adnexal human specimens comprising of 11 isolated human main lacrimal gland specimens, four full-thickness human eyelid excisions and two exenterations containing full-thickness eyelid and portions of the main lacrimal gland were immunolabelled with a rabbit polyclonal human MR antibody.

Results: Our results demonstrated that all main lacrimal gland specimens (13/13, 100%) were positive for MR expression with a predominance (10/13 (77%) of grade 1+ punctate distribution.

Statins in ophthalmology.

Statins, 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-gutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, are a class of lipid-lowering drugs with anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and vascular effects. Statins are increasingly being used in the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. We examine the actions of statins on the eye and its associated ophthalmic disorders.

HMG-CoA reductase expression in human eyelid tissue and in a human meibomian gland epithelial cell line.

Purpose: 3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGCR), the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol production, has been found to contribute to lipid secretion from skin sebaceous glands and hair follicles. We assessed for HMGCR expression in human eyelid tissue and in immortalized human meibomian gland epithelial cells (HMGECs) using immunohistochemistry.

Methods: Full thickness human eyelid specimens in archival paraffin blocks were obtained.

Effectiveness of pharmaceutical interventions for meibomian gland dysfunction: An evidence-based review of clinical trials.

Meibomian gland dysfunction is one of the most common ocular disorders encountered by ophthalmologists and is the leading cause of evaporative dry eye. The disease causes significant morbidity in the population such that patients seek treatment. Multiple clinical studies on pharmacological and mechanical interventions for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction have been evaluated.

Association of dyslipidaemia and oral statin use, and dry eye disease symptoms in the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Importance: There is limited literature on oral statin use and its association with dry eye.

Background: To analyse the association between dyslipidaemia, use of oral statin drugs, and symptoms of dry eye disease (DED) among older adults.

Design: Population-based study.

Spontaneous hyphaema secondary to bleeding from an iris vascular tuft in a patient with a supratherapeutic International normalised ratio: case report.

Background: Iris vascular tufts are rare iris stromal vascular hamartomas. Patients with iris vascular tufts generally remain asymptomatic until presenting with a spontaneous hyphaema or with mild intraoperative pupil margin haemorrhage during anterior segment surgery. This is the first reported case of spontaneous hyphaema from iris vascular tuft related to a documented supratherapeutic International Normalised Ratio as a predisposing factor.

Efficacy and Safety of Topical Atorvastatin for the Treatment of Dry Eye Associated with Blepharitis: A Pilot Study.

Aims: To elucidate if topically applied atorvastatin safely decreases corneal fluorescein staining in dry eyes associated with blepharitis.

Methods: Ten dry eye and blepharitis (DEB) patients were enroled in a prospective pilot study. All patients were treated with topical atorvastatin (50 μM) 8 times a day for 4 weeks and allowed to continue with their existing dry eye treatment.

Statin Modulation of Human T-Cell Proliferation, IL-1β and IL-17 Production, and IFN-γ T Cell Expression: Synergy with Conventional Immunosuppressive Agents.

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) have been demonstrated to be immunomodulatory for human immune-mediated disease and in experimental models. The aim of this study was to compare statin-mediated immunosuppressive effects on human T-cell responses in vitro with those of conventional immunosuppressives (dexamethasone, cyclosporin A (CsA), mycophenolate, and rapamycin). Statins (atorvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin) were investigated for their modulatory effects on human PBMC viability, cytokine profiles, and T-cell proliferation.

Orbital emphysema following removal of bilateral midfacial implants.

A 36-year-old man with Crouzon syndrome was referred post-operatively with unilateral painful limitation of eye movements and proptosis following removal of bilateral malar and orbital rim implants. Further investigation revealed right inferior orbital emphysema, caused by the intra-operative entrance of hydrogen peroxide through a suspected perforation of the orbital septum. The symptoms settled with conservative management.

Bluebottle envenomation-induced crystalline keratopathy.

Purpose: To report a patient who developed a crystalline keratopathy after bluebottle envenomation of the cornea.

Method: Case report with histopathological correlation and literature review.

Results: A 61-year-old man presented to the Ophthalmology clinic after he was stung in the left eye by a bluebottle while swimming in the sea.

Selective embolization and resection of a large noninvoluting congenital hemangioma of the lower eyelid.

Purpose: To present a combined interventional radiologic and resection technique for the management of a large amblyogenic, highly vascular lesion of the lower eyelid associated with severe mechanical ectropion, conjunctival pyogenic granuloma, and recurrent, spontaneous conjunctival bleeding.

Methods: Preoperative selective embolization and coil placement were followed by resection of the tumor.

Results: Embolization, coil placement, and resection were uneventful with cosmetic and functional visual improvement obtained.

Recurrent multi-organism keratoconjunctivitis manifesting as a first presentation of common variable immune deficiency (CVID).

Common variable immune deficiency (CVID) is characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, impaired antibody production, and recurrent bacterial infections. Reports of ocular manifestations of CVID are rare. The authors discuss a patient with recurrent keratoconjunctivitis that presented as an initial manifestation of CVID.

Trabeculectomy trapdoor separation with allergic periorbital dermatitis: an unusual late-onset complication of guarded filtration surgery.

Hypotony post trabeculectomy may be the result of excessive aqueous outflow. Herein a case of an elderly man with excessive filtration 2 years post trabeculectomy resulting from trapdoor separation associated with allergic periorbital dermatitis is presented. Quaternary ammonium compounds are a significant cause of allergic periorbital dermatitis.

Necrotising anterior scleritis in a late-onset rheumatoid arthritis (LORA) patient.

Late-onset rheumatoid arthritis (LORA) is a clinically distinct entity from rheumatoid arthritis of younger onset (YORA). We present a case of necrotising anterior scleritis in an elderly lady with new-onset LORA that was initially thought to be infective. Oestrogen receptors have been identified on B cells, T cells, and macrophages with oestrogens demonstrated to increase their activation and enhance RA synovial inflammation.

Cytokines and chemokines in uveitis: is there a correlation with clinical phenotype?

Uveitis is a general term for intraocular inflammation and includes a large number of clinical phenotypes. As a group of disorders, it is responsible for 10% of all registered blind patients under the age of 65 years. Immune-mediated uveitis may be associated with a systemic disease or may be localized to the eye.

Multiplex cytokine detection versus ELISA for aqueous humor: IL-5, IL-10, and IFNgamma profiles in uveitis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine levels of IL-2, -4, -5, -10, TNF-alpha, and IFN-gamma in aqueous humor (AH) from patients with active panuveitis, anterior uveitis (AU), and noninflammatory controls by using a flow cytometric mutiplex array (CBA) and to compare with results from ELISA.

Methods: Pooled normal AH was spiked with six cytokines at decreasing concentrations for evaluating the CBA. AH was also obtained from 10 controls (cataract patients) and 36 patients with active uveitis.

Bilateral subacute angle-closure glaucoma in association with tonic pupils post-coronary artery bypass graft.

Anterior and posterior visual pathway disturbances have been reported post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Acute angle-closure glaucoma after general anaesthesia has also been well described in the literature. To date, however, there are only two cases of angle closure caused by tonic pupils.

Churg-Strauss syndrome presenting with conjunctival nodules in association with Candida albicans and ankylosing spondylitis.

Churg-Strauss syndrome is a rare diffuse vasculitis of which the ocular manifestations have been well documented. However, reports of conjunctival involvement in Churg-Strauss syndrome are scarce. Such a presentation is described in a man with Candida albicans infection as well as ankylosing spondylitis, and a possible aetiological linkage is established amongst all three.