Improving visual prognosis of the diabetic patients during the past 30 years based on the data of the Finnish Register of Visual Impairment.

Purpose: To evaluate changes in visual impairment (VI) due to diabetic retinopathy (DR) recorded in the Finnish Register of Visual Impairment (RVI) during the past 30 years.

Methods: Data from the visually impaired diabetic persons included in the RVI were analysed using three 10-year cohorts (1982-90, 1991-2000, 2001-10). Information on the age at the time of the first VI registration, severity of VI determined according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) definition, and the age at death was collected.

Extracellular superoxide dismutase induces mouse embryonic fibroblast proliferative burst, growth arrest, immortalization, and consequent in vivo tumorigenesis.

Aims: Rat sarcoma virus (RAS)-induced tumorigenesis has been suggested to follow a three-stage model consisting of an initial RAS activation, senescence induction, and evasion of p53-dependent senescence checkpoints. While reactive oxygen species act as second messengers in RAS-induced senescence, they are also involved in oncogenic transformation by inducing proliferation and promoting mutations. In the current work, we investigated the role of extracellular superoxide dismutase (SOD3) in RAS-induced senescence and immortalization in vitro and in vivo.

Sexually dimorphic effects of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibition on dopamine metabolism in multiple brain regions.

The catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzyme metabolises catecholamines. COMT inhibitors are licensed for the adjunctive treatment of Parkinson's disease and are attractive therapeutic candidates for other neuropsychiatric conditions. COMT regulates dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) but plays a lesser role in the striatum.

Brief report: Mesenchymal stromal cell atrophy in coculture increases aggressiveness of transformed cells.

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are able to influence the growth abilities of transformed cells. Here, we show that papillary thyroid cancer TPC1 and HEK 293T cells interact physically with human primary bone marrow-derived MSCs followed by evanescence of MSC cytoplasm. Interestingly, transformed cells were able to connect only to apoptotic MSCs that had lost their migration ability, whereas naïve MSCs avoided the direct contact.