Publications by authors named "Toru Nakazawa"

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate biologically meaningful endotypes of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) by applying unsupervised machine learning to plasma metabolites.

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal cohort study enrolled consecutive patients aged ≥20 years with OAG at Tohoku University Hospital from January 2017 to January 2020. OAG was confirmed based on comprehensive ophthalmic examinations.

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Corneal hysteresis (CH) is associated with glaucomatous structural changes. We retrospectively investigated the association between CH and the regional circumpapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (cpRNFLT) in 419 eyes of 419 patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). CH was used as the explanatory variable, and cpRNFLT (total and quadrant) was used as the dependent variable.

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In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of the deficient antioxidative gene, nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), on 17β-estradiol (E)-mediated oxidative stress response, with a specific focus on growth factor production and cell death in Müller cells and retinal tissue. Administration of hydrogen peroxide (HO) reduced the viability of Müller cells derived from Nrf2 wild-type (WT) and knockout (KO) mice. However, this effect was more significant in the KO cells than in the WT cells.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates how laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG) can assess changes in ocular blood flow after catheter ablation (CA) in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).
  • - Researchers monitored 28 AF patients (8 with paroxysmal AF and 20 with persistent AF) before and after CA, finding a significant increase in ocular blood flow in the persistent AF group, but no change in the paroxysmal group.
  • - The findings suggest that successful heart rhythm restoration via CA can improve ocular blood circulation, indicating a potential link between heart health and eye/cognitive function.
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Purpose: To explore the frequency and positions of genetic mutations in CYP1B1 and FOXC1 in a Japanese population.

Study Design: Molecular genetic analysis.

Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from 31 Japanese patients with childhood glaucoma (CG) from 29 families.

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Purpose: To compare blood flow (BF) impairment patterns in different optic neuropathies using laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG).

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 24 eyes of 24 patients with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAAION), 59 eyes of 59 patients with optic neuritis (ON), 677 eyes of 677 patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG), and 110 eyes of 110 controls. The patient backgrounds of all groups were compared.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to explore how systemic oxidative stress relates to myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) and its effects on clinical outcomes in patients with high myopia.
  • - Researchers analyzed data from 105 eyes, grouping participants by their conditions: healthy eyes, eyes with high myopia without mCNV, and eyes with mCNV receiving anti-VEGF treatments, focusing on oxidative stress parameters.
  • - Results indicated that lower levels of biological antioxidant potential (BAP) were linked to mCNV, with significant associations found between oxidative stress and both subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and treatment frequency, suggesting that monitoring oxidative stress could help assess risks in myopic eyes
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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of genetic risk estimation in identifying primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) among Japanese individuals through a cross-sectional analysis involving 3,625 participants.
  • Genetic risk scores (GRSs) were developed based on a genome-wide association study, with the best-performing GRS comprising 98 significant variants showing strong predictive accuracy for POAG.
  • Results indicated that individuals in the top 10% of GRS had a substantially higher likelihood of having POAG compared to those in the lowest 10%, highlighting the potential of GRS as a tool for glaucoma risk assessment in this population.*
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Purpose: Equol is metabolized by intestinal bacteria from soy isoflavones and is chemically similar to estrogen. Dietary habits, such as consumption of soy products, influence equol production. A relationship between glaucoma and estrogen has been identified; here, we investigated the relationship between equol production status and glaucoma in Japan.

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Background: In recent years, alternative monitoring approaches, such as risk-based and remote monitoring techniques, have been recommended instead of traditional on-site monitoring to achieve more efficient monitoring. Remote risk-based monitoring (R2BM) is a monitoring technique that combines risk-based and remote monitoring and focuses on the detection of critical data and process errors. Direct data capture (DDC), which directly collects electronic source data, can facilitate R2BM by minimizing the extent of source documents that must be reviewed and reducing the additional workload on R2BM.

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Purpose: This study aimed to investigate differences in microvasculature dropout (MvD) between the superior and inferior hemispheres in glaucoma patients.

Study Design: Retrospective and cross-sectional.

Methods: Fifty-eight eyes of 58 open-angle glaucoma patients (age 61.

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Glaucoma is a common cause of blindness worldwide. Genetic effects are believed to contribute to the onset and progress of glaucoma, but the underlying pathological mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we set out to introduce mutations into the gene, which is known as being the closely associated with glaucoma, in a human neuronal cell line .

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Purpose: To assess ocular blood flow (OBF) changes in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab biosimilar (IVRbs) or brolucizumab (IVBr).

Methods: This retrospective longitudinal study included 43 eyes of 43 patients (74.5 ± 9.

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Purpose: Timely detection and treatment of visual impairments and age-related eye diseases are essential for maintaining a longer, healthier life. However, the shortage of appropriate medical equipment often impedes early detection. We have developed a portable self-imaging slit-light device utilizing NIR light and a scanning mirror.

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Activated microglia contribute to many neuroinflammatory diseases in the central nervous system. In this study, we attempted to identify an anti-inflammatory compound that could suppress microglial activation. We performed high-throughput screening with a chemical library developed at our institute.

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Purpose: To investigate sectoral differences in the relationship between intraocular pressure (IOP) dynamics during dark-room prone testing (DRPT) and visual field (VF) defect progression in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients.

Design: Retrospective, longitudinal study.

Participants: This retrospective study included 116 eyes of 84 POAG patients who underwent DRPT and had at least 5 reliable VF tests conducted over a more than 2-year follow-up period.

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Purpose: To investigate clinical factors associated with foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters obtained using OCT angiography (OCTA) with assistance from a previously developed artificial intelligence (AI) platform in eyes with open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Design: Retrospective longitudinal.

Participants: This study followed up 885 eyes of 558 patients with OAG for ≥ 2 years; all eyes underwent ≥ 5 Humphrey visual-field (VF) tests and had 3.

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Background: As gene-specific therapy for inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) advances, unified variant interpretation across institutes is becoming increasingly important. This study aims to update the genetic findings of 86 retinitis pigmentosa (RP)-related genes in a large number of Japanese patients with RP by applying the standardised variant interpretation guidelines for Japanese patients with IRD (J-IRD-VI guidelines) built upon the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics and the Association for Molecular Pathology rules, and assess the contribution of these genes in RP-allied diseases.

Methods: We assessed 2325 probands with RP (n=2155, including n=1204 sequenced previously with the same sequencing panel) and allied diseases (n=170, newly analysed), including Usher syndrome, Leber congenital amaurosis and cone-rod dystrophy (CRD).

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Excessive uric acid (UA) is associated with age-related cataract. A previous study showed that a high UA level in the aqueous humor stimulated the senescence of lens epithelial cells (LECs), leading to cataract progression. To better understand the underlying mechanisms, we investigated UA-driven senescence in human lens tissue samples obtained during surgery, rat lens organ cultures, and in vivo experiments, using senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) staining, electronic microscopy, Western blotting, and histological analyses.

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Purpose: To explore the effects of deep optic nerve head (ONH) structures on Bruch's membrane opening (BMO)-minimum rim width (MRW) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (pRNFLT) in healthy eyes.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: Two hundred five healthy eyes of 141 subjects (mean ± standard deviation of age and axial length (AXL): 46.

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A 50-year-old woman had visual disturbance in her left eye. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed an epiretinal membrane (ERM) and a giant peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation (ICC). Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 15/50 in the left eye with central visual field (VF) impairment.

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