Experimentally Induced Mammalian Models of Glaucoma.

A wide variety of animal models have been used to study glaucoma. Although these models provide valuable information about the disease, there is still no ideal model for studying glaucoma due to its complex pathogenesis. Animal models for glaucoma are pivotal for clarifying glaucoma etiology and for developing novel therapeutic strategies to halt disease progression.

Future therapies of wet age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly population, and the prevalence of the disease increases exponentially with every decade after the age of 50 years. While VEGF inhibitors are promising drugs for treating patients with ocular neovascularization, there are limitations to their potential for improving vision in AMD patients. Thus, future therapies are required to have the potential to improve visual outcomes.

Neurosteroids are endogenous neuroprotectants in an ex vivo glaucoma model.

Purpose: Allopregnanolone is a neurosteroid and powerful modulator of neuronal excitability. The neuroprotective effects of allopregnanolone involve potentiation of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibitory responses. Although glutamate excitotoxicity contributes to ganglion cell death in glaucoma, the role of GABA in glaucoma remains uncertain.

Risk factors for primary open-angle glaucoma in Japanese subjects attending community health screenings.

Background/aims: To describe risk factors associated with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Japanese subjects who participated in community health screenings.

Methods: Residents of Akita, Japan, participating in a community health checkup were selected to undergo a comprehensive ophthalmic examination. Glaucoma was diagnosed based on optic disk appearance, perimetric results, and other ocular findings.

Dynamics of human erythroblast enucleation.

How human erythroblasts enucleate remains obscure, and some investigators suspect the effect of mechanical forces on enucleation in vitro. We determined the dynamics of the enucleation process of highly purified human erythroblasts and whether enucleation can occur without external mechanical forces. Highly purified human CD34(+) cells were cultured in liquid phase with interleukin-3, stem cell factor and erythropoietin (EPO) for 7 days and the generated erythroblasts were replaced in the same medium with EPO alone.