Network analysis of inflammation and symptoms in recent onset schizophrenia and the influence of minocycline during a clinical trial.

Attempts to delineate an immune subtype of schizophrenia have not yet led to the clear identification of potential treatment targets. An unbiased informatic approach at the level of individual immune cytokines and symptoms may reveal organisational structures underlying heterogeneity in schizophrenia, and potential for future therapies. The aim was to determine the network and relative influence of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines on depressive, positive, and negative symptoms.

Conjunctival transcriptomics in ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid.

Purpose: Ocular Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid (OcMMP) is an orphan disease characterized by chronic autoimmune-driven conjunctival inflammation leading to progressive scarring, debilitating symptoms, and blinding sequelae. This feasibility study aims to demonstrate conjunctival genetic transcriptomic analyses as a putative tool for interrogation of pathogenic signaling pathways in OcMMP.

Methods: Conjunctival RNA profiling using the NanoString nCounter Human Fibrosis panel was undertaken on RNA extracted from conjunctival swabs obtained from 6 MMP patients (8 eyes; 4 M/2F; median age 78 [range 64-84] years); and 8 age-matched control participants (15 eyes; 3 M/5F; median age 69.

Deconstructing depression and negative symptoms of schizophrenia; differential and longitudinal immune correlates, and response to minocycline treatment.

Background: Immune dysfunction has been implicated in negative symptoms of schizophrenia and also in depression. These disorders are frequently co-morbid, with some symptoms such as anhedonia and apathy common to both. The anti-inflammatory agent minocycline may be ineffective in schizophrenia, but more positive effects have been seen in depression.

Sustained release of decorin to the surface of the eye enables scarless corneal regeneration.

Disorganization of the transparent collagenous matrix in the cornea, as a consequence of a variety of infections and inflammatory conditions, leads to corneal opacity and sight-loss. Such corneal opacities are a leading cause of blindness, according to the WHO. Public health programs target prevention of corneal scarring, but the only curative treatment of established scarring is through transplantation.