Retinal detachment in morning glory syndrome with large hole in the excavated disc.

Purpose: To present a case of morning glory syndrome (MGS) associated with retinal detachment and to discuss the pathogenesis of retinal tear.

Methods: A 2-year-old-girl had a MGS with a large hole in the excavated disc and retinal detachment. The visual acuity was 4/200 in the affected eye.

Reiterative membranous proliferation with giant-cell deposits on hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses after triple procedures in eyes with cataracts and uveitis.

Purpose: To report 2 cases of reiterative membranous proliferation with giant-cell deposits on hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lenses (IOLs) after a triple procedure of vitrectomy, phacoemulsification, and IOL implantation in uveitic eyes with cataracts and vitreous opacity.

Methods: A 72-year-old Japanese woman and a 67-year-old Japanese man underwent AcrySof IOL (SA60AT) implantation in their eyes (both eyes in the first case and the left eye in the second case) for the treatment of cataract and vitreous opacity with uveitis. Although intraocular inflammation seemed to be successfully controlled, the number of giant-cell deposits on the posterior surface of the posterior capsule was gradually increased with the development of posterior capsular opacification in 5 and 9 months, respectively, and neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser capsulotomy was required.

Ocular hypotony after the use of indocyanine green for epiretinal membrane surgery.

Purpose: To report the occurrence of transient ocular hypotony after indocyanine green (ICG)-assisted macular surgery for removal of the epiretinal membrane (ERM).

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective review of 122 eyes of 118 patients who underwent vitrectomy for idiopathic ERM. The ICG staining technique was used in 71 eyes without fluid-air exchange (FAX) and in 15 eyes with FAX.

Inhibition of posterior capsule opacification by a capsular adhesion-preventing ring.

Objective: To assess the inhibitory effect of a capsular adhesion-preventing ring (CAPR) that facilitates aqueous humor circulation into the capsular bag on posterior capsule opacification (PCO) formation after cataract surgery.

Methods: After phacoemulsification, a polymethyl methacrylate intraocular lens with (n=5) or without (n=5) a CAPR was implanted in rabbit eyes. The inhibitory effect of the CAPR on PCO formation was assessed by stereoscopic microscopy and histologic examination 8 weeks after surgery.

Angiotensin II upregulates RAGE expression on podocytes: role of AT2 receptors.

Background: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) play an important role in diabetic nephropathy. The receptor for AGEs, called RAGE, is present on podocytes. We investigated whether angiotensin II (ANG II) modulates RAGE expression on cultured differentiated podocytes.

Restoration of visual function in retinal degeneration mice by ectopic expression of melanopsin.

The rod and cone cells of the mammalian retina are the principal photoreceptors for image-forming vision. They transmit information by means of a chain of intermediate cells to the retinal ganglion cells, which in turn send signals from the retina to the brain. Loss of photoreceptor cells, as happens in a number of human diseases, leads to irreversible blindness.

Inducible ablation of melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells reveals their central role in non-image forming visual responses.

Rod/cone photoreceptors of the outer retina and the melanopsin-expressing retinal ganglion cells (mRGCs) of the inner retina mediate non-image forming visual responses including entrainment of the circadian clock to the ambient light, the pupillary light reflex (PLR), and light modulation of activity. Targeted deletion of the melanopsin gene attenuates these adaptive responses with no apparent change in the development and morphology of the mRGCs. Comprehensive identification of mRGCs and knowledge of their specific roles in image-forming and non-image forming photoresponses are currently lacking.

Reciprocity between phase shifts and amplitude changes in the mammalian circadian clock.

Circadian rhythms help organisms adapt to predictable daily changes in their environment. Light resets the phase of the underlying oscillator to maintain the organism in sync with its surroundings. Light also affects the amplitude of overt rhythms.

Unfolding characteristics of a new hydrophobic acrylic intraocular lens, and possible association with complications in triple procedures.

Background: To evaluate the relationship between complications observed in triple procedures and the unfolding characteristics of the HOYA AF-1 lens.

Methods: Intraoperative and postoperative complications of 242 eyes undergoing vitrectomy, phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation were reviewed. Ninety eyes were implanted with the AF-1 lens (VA60BB), 100 eyes with a polymethylmethacrylate lens (824C) and 52 eyes with an AcrySof lens (SA60AT).

Choroidal neovascularization in transgenic mice expressing prokineticin 1: an animal model for age-related macular degeneration.

The prognosis of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is poor and existing treatments are limited in retarding the progression of disease. The development of an animal model for AMD will be beneficial for finding potential treatments, including gene therapy. Recently prokineticin 1 (hPK1) was identified as a mitogen of fenestrated endothelium.

Elevated intraocular pressure in secondary piggyback intraocular lens implantation.

We report 2 cases of postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation in secondary piggyback intraocular lens (IOL) implantation without history of glaucoma or ocular hypertension. A 74-year-old woman with myopic pseudophakia and a 68-year-old man with hyperopic pseudophakia received secondary piggyback AcrySof IOL implantation in their left eyes. In both patients, the left IOP gradually increased and sustained around 30 mm Hg for about 1 year.

Bilateral subretinal haemorrhage with Terson's syndrome.

Purpose: To present a case of Terson's syndrome with bilateral subretinal haemorrhage emanated from peripapilla, resulting in Mariotte blind spot enlargement.

Methods: Preoperative CT scan and postoperative eye examinations, including funduscopy, fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and Goldmann perimetry.

Results: A 41-year-old Japanese man had suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage.

Generation of transgenic mice using lentiviral vectors: a novel preclinical assessment of lentiviral vectors for gene therapy.

Lentiviral vectors have become attractive delivery vehicles for gene therapy investigators. Specifically, the ability of lentiviral vectors to integrate into nondividing cells and provide stable and long-term gene expression in vivo is a desirable attribute of gene therapy approaches. We report here a simple method for generating transgenic mice using lentiviral vectors, which could be useful models for gene therapy.

The AGE-RAGE system and diabetic nephropathy.

As is diabetes itself, diabetic vasculopathy is a multifactor disease. Studies revealed advanced glycation end products (AGE) as the major environmental account for vascular cell derangement characteristic of diabetes and the receptor for AGE (RAGE) as the major genic factor that responds to them. AGE fractions that caused the vascular derangement were proved to be RAGE ligands.