Testing stem cell therapy in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease: role of bone marrow stem cells and stem cell factor in mucosal regeneration.

Background: The gastrointestinal (GI) mucosal cells turnover regularly under physiological conditions, which may be stimulated in various pathological situations including inflammation. Local epithelial stem cells appear to play a major role in such mucosal renewal or pathological regeneration. Less is clear about the involvement of multipotent stem cells from blood in GI repair.

Intraocular pressure and its relationship to ocular and systemic factors in a healthy Chinese rural population: the Handan Eye Study.

Purpose: To describe the distribution of and factors related to intraocular pressure (IOP) in a healthy adult rural Chinese population in northern China.

Methods: The Handan Eye Study is a cross-sectional, population-based study of eye diseases among 6,830 (90.4% response rate) rural Chinese persons aged 30+ years.

Prevalence and characteristics of primary angle-closure diseases in a rural adult Chinese population: the Handan Eye Study.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence and characteristics of primary angle-closure suspect (PACS), primary angle closure (PAC), and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) in a rural population in China.

Methods: In all, 6716 Han Chinese 30 years of age and older (5480 subjects 40 years of age and older) from 13 villages in Handan were randomly selected and completed an ophthalmologic examination, including visual acuity, intraocular pressure (IOP), slit-lamp examination, gonioscopy and stereoscopic photography, and visual field. PACS was defined as present if either eye had the posterior trabecular meshwork not visible for 180° or more on gonioscopy.