STREPTOCOCCUS SUIS ENDOGENOUS ENDOPHTHALMITIS IN A PATIENT WITH MENINGITIS.

Background: Streptococcus suis is a major porcine pathogen that can cause severe systemic infection in humans. The common clinical features include meningitis, septicemia, purulent arthritis, and oftentimes deafness. However, ocular inflammation is very rare.

Effects of Diabetes on Microcirculation and Leukostasis in Retinal and Non-Ocular Tissues: Implications for Diabetic Retinopathy.

Changes in retinal microcirculation are associated with the development of diabetic retinopathy (DR). However, it is unclear whether such changes also develop in capillary beds of other non-retinal tissues. Here, we investigated microcirculatory changes involving velocity of rolling neutrophils, adherence of neutrophils, and leukostasis during development of retinal vascular lesions in diabetes in other non-retinal tissues.

High Glucose Increases Binding of Lysyl Oxidase to Extracellular Matrix Proteins: Implications for Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To determine whether high glucose (HG) compromises internalization of lysyl oxidase (LOX) through excess binding of LOX with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins.

Methods: To determine whether HG promotes binding of LOX with ECM proteins, fibronectin (FN) and collagen IV (Coll IV), total or ECM-only proteins from rat retinal endothelial cells grown in normal (N; 5 mM) or HG (30 mM) medium were analyzed by coimmunoprecipitation and Western blot (WB). In parallel, coimmunostaining was performed to determine changes in LOX binding to FN or Coll IV.

Decreased lysyl oxidase level protects against development of retinal vascular lesions in diabetic retinopathy.

Retinal capillary basement membrane (BM) thickening is closely associated with the development of vascular lesions in diabetic retinopathy. Thickened capillary BM can compromise blood-retinal-barrier characteristics and contribute to retinal vascular permeability, a significant clinical manifestation of diabetic retinopathy. We have previously shown that high glucose increases the expression and activity of lysyl oxidase (LOX), a crosslinking enzyme, in retinal endothelial cells.

Inhibition of Diabetes-Induced Lysyl Oxidase Overexpression Prevents Retinal Vascular Lesions Associated With Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of reducing diabetes-induced lysyl oxidase (LOX) overexpression on vascular cell apoptosis and blood-retinal barrier (BRB) characteristics in diabetic rats.

Methods: Nondiabetic rats, diabetic rats, and diabetic rats intravitreally (IV) injected with LOX siRNA or scrambled (scram) siRNA were used in the study. One month after the onset of diabetes, intravitreal injections were initiated at monthly intervals for up to three times.