A double-crosslinked nanocellulose-reinforced dexamethasone-loaded collagen hydrogel for corneal application and sustained anti-inflammatory activity.

In cases of blinding disease or trauma, hydrogels have been proposed as scaffolds for corneal regeneration and vehicles for ocular drug delivery. Restoration of corneal transparency, augmenting a thin cornea and postoperative drug delivery are particularly challenging in resource-limited regions where drug availability and patient compliance may be suboptimal. Here, we report a bioengineered hydrogel based on porcine skin collagen as an alternative to human donor corneal tissue for applications where long-term stability of the hydrogel is required.

Repeat Corneal Neovascularization is Characterized by More Aggressive Inflammation and Vessel Invasion Than in the Initial Phase.

Purpose: Treatment of corneal neovascularization can lead to vessel regression and recovery of corneal transparency. Here, we examined the response of the cornea to a repeated stimulus after initial vessel regression comparing the second wave of neovascularization with the first.

Methods: Corneal neovascularization was induced by surgical suture placement in the rat cornea for 7 days, followed by suture removal and a 30-day regression period.

Intussusceptive Vascular Remodeling Precedes Pathological Neovascularization.

Objective- Pathological neovascularization is crucial for progression and morbidity of serious diseases such as cancer, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration. While mechanisms of ongoing pathological neovascularization have been extensively studied, the initiating pathological vascular remodeling (PVR) events, which precede neovascularization remains poorly understood. Here, we identify novel molecular and cellular mechanisms of preneovascular PVR, by using the adult choriocapillaris as a model.

MicroRNAs in the cornea: Role and implications for treatment of corneal neovascularization.

With no safe and efficient approved therapy available for treating corneal neovascularization, the search for alternative and effective treatments is of great importance. Since the discovery of miRNAs as key regulators of gene expression, knowledge of their function in the eye has expanded continuously, facilitated by high throughput genomic tools such as microarrays and RNA sequencing. Recently, reports have emerged implicating miRNAs in pathological and developmental angiogenesis.

Wide-field corneal subbasal nerve plexus mosaics in age-controlled healthy and type 2 diabetes populations.

A dense nerve plexus in the clear outer window of the eye, the cornea, can be imaged in vivo to enable non-invasive monitoring of peripheral nerve degeneration in diabetes. However, a limited field of view of corneal nerves, operator-dependent image quality, and subjective image sampling methods have led to difficulty in establishing robust diagnostic measures relating to the progression of diabetes and its complications. Here, we use machine-based algorithms to provide wide-area mosaics of the cornea's subbasal nerve plexus (SBP) also accounting for depth (axial) fluctuation of the plexus.

Reduced Corneal Nerve Fiber Density in Type 2 Diabetes by Wide-Area Mosaic Analysis.

Purpose: To determine if corneal subbasal nerve plexus (SBP) parameters derived from wide-area depth-corrected mosaic images are associated with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: One hundred sixty-three mosaics were produced from eyes of 82 subjects by laser-scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). Subjects were of the same age, without (43 subjects) or with type 2 diabetes (39 subjects).

A microarray whole-genome gene expression dataset in a rat model of inflammatory corneal angiogenesis.

In angiogenesis with concurrent inflammation, many pathways are activated, some linked to VEGF and others largely VEGF-independent. Pathways involving inflammatory mediators, chemokines, and micro-RNAs may play important roles in maintaining a pro-angiogenic environment or mediating angiogenic regression. Here, we describe a gene expression dataset to facilitate exploration of pro-angiogenic, pro-inflammatory, and remodelling/normalization-associated genes during both an active capillary sprouting phase, and in the restoration of an avascular phenotype.

RGTA in corneal wound healing after transepithelial laser ablation in a rabbit model: a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled study.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the agent RGTA for epithelial, stromal and nerve regeneration after laser-induced corneal wounding in rabbits.

Methods: After excimer laser wounding of the anterior cornea in 25 New Zealand white rabbits, topical RGTA or placebo was applied in a randomized, masked manner. Fluorescein epithelial staining was performed on the first 5 postoperative days.

Factors regulating capillary remodeling in a reversible model of inflammatory corneal angiogenesis.

Newly formed microcapillary networks arising in adult organisms by angiogenic and inflammatory stimuli contribute to pathologies such as corneal and retinal blindness, tumor growth, and metastasis. Therapeutic inhibition of pathologic angiogenesis has focused on targeting the VEGF pathway, while comparatively little attention has been given to remodeling of the new microcapillaries into a stabilized, functional, and persistent vascular network. Here, we used a novel reversible model of inflammatory angiogenesis in the rat cornea to investigate endogenous factors rapidly invoked to remodel, normalize and regress microcapillaries as part of the natural response to regain corneal avascularity.

Early effects of dexamethasone and anti-VEGF therapy in an inflammatory corneal neovascularization model.

Inflammatory angiogenesis is the pathogenic mechanism of various sight-threatening eye diseases, among them corneal neovascularization. Current treatment options include steroids which have undesirable side effects, or anti-VEGF which has only limited efficacy. In an inflammatory environment, however, angiogenesis can be stimulated by numerous factors not directly targeted by anti-VEGF therapy.

An in vivo method for visualizing flow dynamics of cells within corneal lymphatics.

Background: Monitoring the trafficking of specific cell populations within lymphatics could improve our understanding of processes such as transplant rejection and cancer metastasis. Current methods, however, lack appropriate image resolution for single-cell analysis or are incompatible with in vivo and longitudinal monitoring of lymphatics in their native state. We therefore sought to achieve high-resolution live imaging of the dynamic behavior of cells within lymph vessels in the rat cornea.

Acute exudative polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy in a young woman: presymptomatic findings and 21-month follow-up.

Purpose: To describe ocular findings before and after the diagnosis of acute exudative polymorphous vitelliform maculopathy, in an otherwise healthy 28-year-old woman.

Methods: Case report with 21-months of follow-up. Fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, and autofluorescence were used for imaging the retina.

QALY weights for diabetic retinopathy--a comparison of health state valuations with HUI-3, EQ-5D, EQ-VAS, and TTO.

Objective: To estimate quality-adjusted life-year weights for patients with diabetic retinopathy by using various methods and to investigate the empirical validity of the different measures.

Methods: The study population comprised 152 patients with diabetes in Östergötland County, Sweden. Participants were interviewed by telephone by using the time trade-off (TTO) method and a visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) (direct valuations) as well as the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) and the health utilities index mark 3 (HUI-3) (indirect valuations).

Cellular level characterization of capillary regression in inflammatory angiogenesis using an in vivo corneal model.

In this study, we introduce a technique for repeated, microscopic observation of single regressing capillaries in vivo in inflamed murine corneas. Natural capillary regression was initiated by removal of inflammatory stimulus during an active pro-angiogenic phase, while the additional impact of anti-angiogenic treatment with triamcinolone or bevazicumab was investigated. Capillaries regressed naturally within 1 week and treatments did not further enhance the natural regression.

Transient anterior corneal deposits in a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient.

Purpose: To report findings of pigmented anterior corneal deposits in a human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient.

Methods: Case report. A 49-year-old human immunodeficiency virus-positive patient was examined after the appearance of pigmented corneal deposits.

Prevalence and healthcare costs of diabetic retinopathy: a population-based register study in Sweden.

Aims/hypothesis: The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence and healthcare costs of diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: This population-based study included all residents (n = 251,386) in the catchment area of the eye clinic of Linköping University Hospital, Sweden. Among patients with diabetes (n = 12,026), those with and without DR were identified through register data from both the Care Data Warehouse in Ostergötland, an administrative healthcare register, and the Swedish National Diabetes Register.

Cellular-level characterization of lymph vessels in live, unlabeled corneas by in vivo confocal microscopy.

Purpose: To determine whether in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) of the cornea can be used for the label-free detection and monitoring of lymph vessels in live corneas.

Methods: Parallel corneal hemangiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis was induced by the placement of a single suture in one cornea of male Wistar rats. Fourteen days after suture placement and under general anesthesia, laser-scanning IVCM was performed in the vascularized region.

Significant improvements in near vision, reading speed, central visual field and related quality of life after ranibizumab treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To investigate the effects on near visual acuity, reading speed, central visual field and related quality of life of ranibizumab treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: The study was a prospective, non-comparative consecutive case series, followed for 3 months and investigator-driven. Thirty eyes of 30 patients with wet AMD were included, mean age 75 years (range 69-95 years).