Effects of chemokine receptor CCR7 in the pathophysiology and clinical features of the immuno-inflammatory response in primary pterygium.

Objective: Chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) has been considered a critical biomarker in inflammation and the immune response; however, little is known about CCR7 in pterygia. This study aimed to investigate whether CCR7 participates in the pathogenesis of primary pterygia and how CCR7 affects the progression of pterygia.

Methods: This was an experimental study.

Mechanism of circular RNA-mediated regulation of L-DOPA to improve wet age-related macular degeneration.

This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of levodopa (L-DOPA) in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A wet AMD cell model was created via CoCl treatment of ARPE-19 cells. The cytoprotective effects of L-DOPA in the model were determined using CCK-8, flow cytometry, TUNEL, qPCR, and ELISA assays.

Case Report: The First Reported Concurrence of Wilson Disease and Bilateral Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Background: Wilson disease (WD) and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) are common genetic disorders in clinical practice, however, the concurrence of WD and RP has never been reported before. WD occurs due to mutations that cause copper metabolic abnormalities; in turn, change in copper metabolism has been suggested to be related with RP. Here, we report the first case of concurrent WD and bilateral RP, and investigate possible pathogenesis to illuminate whether the two genetic disorders are causality or coincidence.

Herpetic Keratitis Preceded by COVID-19 Vaccination.

The global Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has accelerated vaccine development at an unprecedented rate. A large population of people have received COVID-19 vaccines, while the vaccine safety data are limited. Here, we reported two cases of herpetic keratitis that occurred soon after receiving the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines.

Distinctive Gut Microbiota in Patients with Overweight and Obesity with Dyslipidemia and its Responses to Long-term Orlistat and Ezetimibe Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Open-label Trial.

This study investigated the gut microbiota and short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) characteristics of subjects with obesity from Xinjiang in northwestern China, a region with a multiethnic culture and characteristic lifestyle, and to explore the potential microbes that respond to a 12-wk medication of orlistat and ezetimibe with a randomized controlled open-label trial manner. The gut microbiota profile of patients with overweight and obesity with dyslipidemia in Xinjiang was distinctive and characterized by enrichment of and the reduction of the diversity and the depletion of , , , and . -type, -type, and -type were the gut microbial patterns of the Xinjiang population.

TMEM2 binds to CSNK2A3 to inhibit HBV infection via activation of the JAK/STAT pathway.

To investigate mechanisms that TMEM2 activation inhibits hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in hepatocarcinoma (HCC) cells, co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) and mass spectrometry were used in screening interacting proteins for TMEM2. Levels of casein kinase 2 subunit α3 (CSNK2A3) in HCC cells were found to be inhibited or overexpressed using siRNAs and pcDNA3.1-CSNK2A3, respectively.

Evaluation of Early Retinal Nerve Injury in Type 2 Diabetes Patients Without Diabetic Retinopathy.

To investigate the damage to the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex layer (GCL+) in diabetic patients without retinal microangioma and to determine the kind of nerve damage more likely to indicate early injury. We included 360 patients (360 eyes) with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 168 healthy volunteers (168 eyes). Patients with retinal microangioma were excluded by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA).

Structure-aided optimization of 3-O-β-chacotriosyl epiursolic acid derivatives as novel H5N1 virus entry inhibitors.

It is urgent to develop new antiviral agents due to the continuous emergence of drug-resistant strains of influenza virus. Our earlier studies have identified that certain pentacyclic triterpene saponins with 3-O-β-chacotriosyl residue are novel H5N1 virus entry inhibitors. In the present study, a series of C-28 modified 3-O-β-chacotriosyl epiursolic acid derivatives via conjugation with different kinds of sides were synthesized, of which anti-H5N1 activities in A549 cells were evaluated in vitro.

Transcriptome alterations in HepG2 cells induced by shRNA knockdown and overexpression of gene.

Transmembrane 2 () gene inhibits chronic hepatitis-B virus (HBV) infection, while the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Transcriptome alterations in HepG2 cells following overexpression or silencing by shRNA were analyzed by next-generation sequencing. Both overexpression and knockdown of the gene caused wide-spread changes in gene expression in HepG2 cells.

Diagnostic Value of Systematic Imaging Examination in Embedded Optic Disc Drusen in Adolescents with Mild Visual Impairment.

Aim: To evaluate the diagnostic value of systematic ophthalmologic imaging examination in the diagnosis of embedded optic disc drusen (ODD) in adolescents with mild visual impairment.

Methods: Eleven patients were evaluated through optometric examination, fundus photography, visual field inspection, optical coherence tomography (OCT), ultrasonography (US), and fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA). Of the 11 patients, three also underwent cranial and orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Discovery of novel inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 with 1-phenyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline scaffold: Structure-based drug design and fragment identification.

Currently, it is in urgent need to develop novel selective PDE4 inhibitors with novel structural scaffolds to overcome the adverse effects and improve the efficacy. Novel 1-phenyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline amide derivatives were developed as potential PDE4 inhibitors based on the structure-based drug design and fragment identification strategy. A SARs analysis was performed in substituents attached in the C-3 side chain phenyl ring, indicating that the attachment of methoxy group or halogen atom substitution at the ortho-position of the phenyl ring was helpful to enhance both inhibitory activity toward PDE4B and selectivity.

Efficacy and Safety of Bevacizumab in the Treatment of Pterygium: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Purpose: Studies investigating efficacy and safety of bevacizumab in pterygium have increased and reported controversial results. Thus, we updated this meta-analysis to clarify the issue.

Methods: Studies were selected through search of the databases Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) from their inception up until June 2017.

Novel mutations of FRMD7 in Chinese patients with congenital motor nystagmus.

The purpose of the current study was to identify novel mutations in the FRMD7 (FERM domain containing 7) gene and to characterize clinical features in Chinese patients with congenital motor nystagmus. For this purpose, 18 patients with congenital motor nystagmus were selected from the ocular genetic diseases bank of the Pediatric and Genetic Clinic of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center (Guangdong, China). Direct sequencing was used to analyze the exons and adjacent introns of the FRMD7 gene.

Structure-activity relationships of 3-O-β-chacotriosyl oleanic acid derivatives as entry inhibitors for highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus.

Highly pathogenic H5N1 virus (H5N1) entry is a key target for the development of novel anti-influenza agents with new mechanisms of action. In our continuing efforts to identify novel potential anti-H5N1 entry inhibitors, a series of 3-O-β-chacotriosyl oleanolic acid analogs have been designed, synthesized and evaluated as H5N1 entry inhibitors based on two small molecule inhibitors 1 and 2 previously discovered by us. The anti-H5N1 entry activities were determined based on HA/HIV and VSVG/HIV entry assays.

Next-generation sequencing of NKX2.1, FOXE1, PAX8, NKX2.5, and TSHR in 100 Chinese patients with congenital hypothyroidism and athyreosis.

Background: The abnormal expression of certain transcription factors (NKX2.1, FOXE1, NKX2.5, and PAX8) and thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) genes has been associated with athyreosis, which is a form of thyroid dysgenesis (TD).

GPR143 mutations in Chinese patients with ocular albinism type 1.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate mutations of the G protein-coupled receptor 143 (GPR143) gene for ocular albinism type 1 (OA1) in Chinese patients. For the current study, 8 patients with OA1 were selected from the database of ocular genetic diseases. Genomic DNA of OA1 was prepared from venous leukocytes collected from the patients.

Tacrolimus (FK506) suppresses TREM-1 expression at an early but not at a late stage in a murine model of fungal keratitis.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and mechanism of tacrolimus(FK506), which is a novel macrolide immunosuppressant, in inhibiting triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) expression in a murine keratitis model induced by Aspergillus fumigatus.

Method: TREM-1 was detected in 11 fungus-infected human corneas by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). RAW264.

Relations between lymphangiogenesis and the size of pterygium.

Aim: To examine the relations between lymphangiogenesis and the size of pterygium.

Methods: Tissues from 88 primary and 34 recurrent pterygia were evaluated, and those from 7 nasal epibulbar conjunctiva segments were used as controls. Pterygium slices from each patient were stained with LYVE-1 monoclonal antibodies to identify lymphatic microvessel for calculating lymph-vascular area (LVA), lymph-microvascular density (LMD) and lymph-vascular luminal diameter (LVL).

[Association between anti-endothelial cell antibody and response to dexamethasone in sudden hearing loss].

Objective: To investigate relationship between anti-endothelial cell antibody(AECA) and response to dexamethasone in sudden hearing loss(SHL).

Method: Forty-eight SHL patients and thirty normal controls with SHL were recruited in present study. AECA was detected by ELISA in serum of all normal controls and SHL patients as well as pure-tone average was examined by electronic audiometry during treatment in SHL patients.

A novel mutation of PAX6 in Chinese patients with new clinical features of Peters' anomaly.

Purpose: To identify novel mutation in the PAX6 (paired box gene 6) gene and characterize new clinical features of severe ocular malformation in a Chinese patient with Peters' anomaly.

Methods: A 10-month-old male infant, who presented with corneal opacity and nystagmus, was referred to our pediatric clinic and underwent a complete general physical and ophthalmological examination, including anterior segment and retinal evaluation with slit-lamp microscopy, an A/B ultrasonic scan, and electroretinography (ERG). Genomic DNA was prepared from venous leukocytes.

Tyrosinase small interfering RNA effectively suppresses tyrosinase gene expression in vitro and in vivo.

Tyrosinase is a bifunctional enzyme which oxidizes the initial step of melanin biosynthesis, that is, conversion of tyrosine to dopa and subsequently dopa to dopaquinone. It is a glycosylated protein and a major regulator of melanogenesis. To date, many approaches have been tried to regulate tyrosinase activity and melanin content.

[The clinical analysis of three approaches of operation for treating non-invasive maxillary sinuses mycosis].

Objective: The clinical effects of three different approaches were retrospectively analysed in the treatment of non-invasive paranasal sinuses mycosis.

Method: Thirty-two cases between January, 1999 to December, 2003 with non-invasive paranasal sinuses were operated by using nasal endoscope in different approaches, such as two pathway of in-nose and out-nose,two pathway of middle and inferior meatus, and single pathway of middle meatus. The clinical effects were analysed.