Ocular Effects of Sildenafil in Naïve Mice and a Mouse Model of Optic Nerve Crush.

Purpose: To investigate the potential neuroprotective effect of sildenafil on the ocular circulation in mice with/without optic nerve crush (ONC).

Methods: Male adult mice (n = 63) were treated with intravitreal (IVT) sildenafil 24 μg/3 μL, intraperitoneal (IP) sildenafil 24 μg/300 μL, or IP saline immediately before right ONC induction (ONC group). A second group (n = 123) received the same treatments without ONC induction (naïve group).

Validity and Acceptance of Color Vision Testing on Smartphones.

Background: Ishihara color plates (ICP) are the most commonly used color vision test (CVT) worldwide. With the advent of new technologies, attempts have been made to streamline the process of CVT. As hardware and software evolve, smartphone-based testing modalities may aid ophthalmologists in performing more efficient ophthalmic examinations.

ABIN1 Determines Severity of Glomerulonephritis via Activation of Intrinsic Glomerular Inflammation.

Transcription factor NF-κB regulates expression of numerous genes that control inflammation and is activated in glomerular cells in glomerulonephritis (GN). We previously identified genetic variants for a NF-κB regulatory, ubiquitin-binding protein ABIN1 as risk factors for GN in systemic autoimmunity. The goal was to define glomerular inflammatory events controlled by ABIN1 function in GN.

Effect of intravitreal injection of bevacizumab on optic nerve head leakage and retinal ganglion cell survival in a mouse model of optic nerve crush.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of bevacizumab, a VEGF inhibitor, on optic nerve edema and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss in a mouse model of optic nerve crush (ONC).

Methods: Two hundred C57BL/6 wild-type mice were anesthetized. Right ONC was induced in 150 mice, of which half (n = 75) received an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab immediately thereafter and half (n = 75) did not.

Complement regulates CD4 T-cell help to CD8 T cells required for murine allograft rejection.

Although induction of CD8 T-cell responses to transplants requires CD4-cell help, how this help is transmitted remains incompletely characterized. In vitro, cognate interactions between CD4 T cells and dendritic cells (DCs) induce C3a and C5a production. CD8(+) T cells lacking C3a receptor (C3aR) and C5a receptor (C5aR) proliferate weakly to allogeneic DCs despite CD4 help, indicating that CD4-cell help is mediated, in part, through DC-derived C3a/C5a acting on CD8(+) T cell-expressed C3aR/C5aR.

Novel aspects of complement in kidney injury.

Complement activation is integral to the development and progression of multiple forms of kidney disease. The liver is the principal source of serum complement, but various kidney cell types and bone marrow-derived immune cells can produce a full array of complement proteins. Locally produced and activated complement yields cleavage products that function as vital intermediaries, amplifying inflammation in ischemia-reperfusion injury and transplant rejection, among other pathological states.