A key role for ROCK in TNF-α-mediated diabetic microvascular damage.

Purpose: Leukocyte adhesion releases tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α that contributes to endothelial damage in early diabetic retinopathy (DR). Rho/Rho-kinase (ROCK) signaling mediates retinal endothelial damage in early DR. However, whether ROCK regulates TNF-α-mediated diabetic vascular damage is unknown.

Intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy blocks inflammatory cell infiltration and re-entry into the circulation in retinal angiogenesis.

Purpose: Anti-VEGF-A antibody (Ab) (e.g., bevacizumab, ranibizumab) is widely used as a treatment against retinal angiogenesis and edema.

Vitreous levels of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-1 in eyes with vitreoretinal diseases.

Background/aims: To determine the vitreous levels of soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (sVEGFR)-1 in patients with various vitreoretinal diseases, and to investigate its correlation with patients' age and the activity of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Methods: Vitreous fluid samples were obtained from 187 eyes of 170 patients who underwent vitrectomy for the treatment of idiopathic macular hole (MH, n=30), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO, n=37), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO, n=27), diabetic macular oedema (DME, n=42) and PDR (n=51). The levels of sVEGFR-1 in the vitreous were measured by ELISA.

Blood vessel endothelial VEGFR-2 delays lymphangiogenesis: an endogenous trapping mechanism links lymph- and angiogenesis.

Angio- and lymphangiogenesis are inherently related processes. However, how blood and lymphatic vessels regulate each other is unknown. This work introduces a novel mechanism explaining the temporal and spatial relation of blood and lymphatic vessels.

Histopathology of neovascular tissue from eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy after intravitreal bevacizumab injection.

Purpose: To examine the histopathologic effect of a single intravitreal injection of bevacizumab on newly formed vessels in eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Design: Interventional case series and laboratory investigation.

Methods: Two days after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (1.

Antiangiogenic mechanisms of simvastatin in retinal endothelial cells.

Background: While statins have an anti-angiogenic property, their underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We investigated intracellular mechanisms of simvastatin-mediated reduction in VEGF-induced signalings.

Methods: The effects of simvastatin on cell proliferation and viability were evaluated by [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation in retinal endothelial cells (RECs) and cell counting.

Equivalent tamponade by room air as compared with SF(6) after macular hole surgery.

Background: To evaluate the effect of tamponade by room air after vitrectomy for the treatment of idiopathic macular hole (MH).

Methods: There were 156 eyes of 151 patients studied. The patients' ages ranged from 35 to 88 years old (mean: 65.

Anatomical findings of vitreoretinal interface in eyes with asteroid hyalosis.

Purpose: To investigate the anatomical features of vitreoretinal interface in eyes with asteroid hyalosis (AH) with optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (TA) during vitreous surgery.

Methods: This study was an interventional clinical case series. Records relating to ten eyes from ten patients who underwent a TA-assisted vitrectomy for the treatment of diverse vitreoretinal diseases complicated with AH.

Role of TGF-beta in proliferative vitreoretinal diseases and ROCK as a therapeutic target.

Cicatricial contraction of preretinal fibrous membrane is a cause of severe vision loss in proliferative vitreoretinal diseases such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). TGF-beta is overexpressed in the vitreous of patients with proliferative vitreoretinal diseases and is also detectable in the contractile membranes. Therefore, TGF-beta is presumed to contribute to the cicatricial contraction of the membranes, however, the underlying mechanisms and TGF-beta's importance among various other factors remain to be elucidated.

Rho kinase inhibition by fasudil ameliorates diabetes-induced microvascular damage.

Objective: Leukocyte adhesion in retinal microvasuculature substantially contributes to diabetic retinopathy. Involvement of the Rho/Rho kinase (ROCK) pathway in diabetic microvasculopathy and therapeutic potential of fasudil, a selective ROCK inhibitor, are investigated.

Research Design And Methods: Localization of RhoA/ROCK and Rho activity were examined in retinal tissues of rats.

Potent inhibition of cicatricial contraction in proliferative vitreoretinal diseases by statins.

Objective: Despite tremendous progress in vitreoretinal surgery, certain postsurgical complications limit the success in the treatment of proliferative vitreoretinal diseases (PVDs), such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). One of the most significant complications is the cicatricial contraction of proliferative membranes, resulting in tractional retinal detachment and severe vision loss. Novel pharmaceutical approaches are thus urgently needed for the management of these vision-threatening diseases.

Posterior vitreous cortex characteristics of an eye with asteroid hyalosis.

Purpose: To describe both the clinical and the histological characteristics of the vitreoretinal interface of an eye with asteroid hyalosis (AH).

Methods: A 76-year-old woman presented with a left eye with AH and an epiretinal membrane (ERM). Preoperative slit-lamp biomicroscopy revealed anatomical posterior vitreous detachment with a Weiss ring.

Antiangiogenic properties of fasudil, a potent Rho-Kinase inhibitor.

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a pivotal role in pathological angiogenesis. In this study, we addressed the therapeutic potential of fasudil, a potent Rho-kinase inhibitor, for VEGF-elicited angiogenesis and also for the intracellular signalings induced by VEGF.

Methods: In vitro, the inhibitory effects of fasudil on the VEGF-dependent VEGF receptor 2 (VEFGR2 or KDR), extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) 1/2, Akt and myosin light chain (MLC) phosphorylation, as well as on the migration and proliferation of bovine retinal microvascular endothelial cells (BRECs) were analyzed with Western blotting, [3H]-thymidine uptake, and modified Boyden chamber assay.

Intracellular events in retinal glial cells exposed to ICG and BBG.

Purpose: To investigate the intracellular events in retinal glial cells exposed to indocyanine green (ICG) and brilliant blue G (BBG).

Methods: The human Müller cell line MIO-M1 was exposed to a low dose (0.25 mg/mL) and a clinical dose (2.

Dexamethasone inhibits interleukin-1beta-induced corneal neovascularization: role of nuclear factor-kappaB-activated stromal cells in inflammatory angiogenesis.

Dexamethasone, a synthetic corticosteroid, is widely used as a potent anti-inflammatory drug in various diseases including corneal angiogenesis. However, dexamethasone's impact on interleukin (IL)-1beta-dependent inflammatory angiogenesis is unknown. Here, we show that dexamethasone inhibits IL-1beta-induced neovascularization and the expression of the angiogenesis-related factors, vascular endothelial growth factor-A, KC, and prostaglandin E(2) in the mouse cornea 2 days after IL-1beta implantation.

Functional characteristics of connective tissue growth factor on vitreoretinal cells.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) level is elevated in eyes with proliferative vitreoretinal diseases, such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy and proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), as we previously reported, but its functional characteristics on vitreoretinal cells are yet to be clarified. In this study, we demonstrated a growth-promoting effect of CTGF on cultured hyalocytes and bovine retinal pigment epithelial cells (BRPEs) with the induction of p44/p42 mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation and [(3)H]thymidine incorporation. CTGF also stimulated the synthesis of fibronectin by hyalocytes and BRPEs without significant effect on collagen gel contraction by these cells.