Intraretinal Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells in Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To examine intraretinally migrated retinal pigment epithelium cells (iRPECs) in enucleated human eyes with various retinal conditions and corresponding intraretinal hyperreflective bodies (iHRBs) in a large cohort of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in China.

Design: Population-based study and histomorphometric investigation.

Participants: Participants of the population-based Beijing Eye Study and enucleated human eyes.

Edridge Green Lecture 2022-demystifying clinical trials and regulatory approvals in drug development.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of clinical trial design and regulatory pathways essential for drug development, specifically in the context of retinal diseases. Key concepts include trial structure, efficacy and safety endpoints, and regulatory expectations from agencies like the FDA. It delves into recent regulatory advancements, such as the inclusion of low-luminance vision as a secondary endpoint and analyses case studies from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) trials.

Bifocal retinal degeneration observed on ultra-widefield autofluorescence in some cases of CRX-associated retinopathy.

Background: Variants in CRX are associated with dominantly inherited retinopathy with considerable phenotypic variability. Many patients have central retinal degeneration; in some patients, we have observed an additional focus of degeneration in the nasal retina. This study explores this phenotypic association amongst patients with CRX-associated disease.

Treatment options for chronic hypotony: a scoping review protocol.

Introduction: Chronic ocular hypotony (low intraocular pressure (IOP)) is a potentially sight-threatening condition. Although there is some controversy as to what constitutes non-physiological IOP, generally it is accepted as an IOP of 6.5 mm Hg or less, measured on three separate occasions and lasting for at least 3 months.

A Pax3 lineage gives rise to transient haematopoietic progenitors.

During embryonic development, muscle tissues, skin, and a subset of vascular endothelial cells arise from Pax3-expressing embryonic progenitors defined as paraxial mesoderm. By contrast, haemogenic potential is well established for extra-embryonic mesoderm and intra-embryonic lateral plate mesoderm, which do not express Pax3. To date, it is not known whether the haematopoietic system also contains Pax3 lineage cells.

OPA1 and disease-causing mutants perturb mitochondrial nucleoid distribution.

Optic atrophy protein 1 (OPA1) mediates inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM) fusion and cristae organization. Mutations in OPA1 cause autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA), a leading cause of blindness. Cells from ADOA patients show impaired mitochondrial fusion, cristae structure, bioenergetic function, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) integrity.

The Effects of Pregnancy on Disease Progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Purpose: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the most common diagnosis in the ophthalmic genetics clinic. Women with RP are often diagnosed during their reproductive years, posing significant challenges for family planning. The effects of pregnancy on RP progression is a frequently unanswered concern for these patients.

Macular Edema Ranibizumab v. Intravitreal anti-inflammatory Therapy (MERIT) Trial-24-week Outcomes of Uveitic Macular Edema Retreatment.

Purpose: Evaluation of longer-term effectiveness of three intravitreal therapies (methotrexate, ranibizumab, or dexamethasone implant) for participants enrolled in the randomized comparative effectiveness trial the Macular Edema Ranibizumab versus Intravitreal anti-inflammatory Therapy (MERIT) Trial followed for24 weeks.

Design: Multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial with masked evaluation of retinal thickness and visual acuity.

Participants: Patients with persistent or recurrent uveitic macular edema.

Ocular immune-related diseases: molecular mechanisms and therapy.

Ocular immune-related diseases, represent a spectrum of conditions driven by immune system dysregulation, include but not limit to uveitis, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, Graves' ophthalmopathy, etc. The molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these diseases are typically dysfunctioned immune responses targeting ocular tissues, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage. Recent advances have further elucidated the pivotal role of different immune responses in the development, progression, as well as management of various ocular immune diseases.

Variants in cause a novel oculo-vertebral-renal (OVR) syndrome.

Colobomatous microphthalmia is a potentially blinding congenital ocular malformation that can present either in isolation or together with other syndromic features. Despite a strong genetic component to disease, many cases lack a molecular diagnosis. We describe a novel autosomal dominant oculo-vertebral-renal (OVR) syndrome in six independent families characterized by colobomatous microphthalmia, missing vertebrae and congenital kidney abnormalities.

National-wide survey of ophthalmic human resources in China in 2021.

Purpose: To evaluate the availability of human resources for ophthalmic services in mainland China.

Methods: In 2021, we conducted a nationwide survey of ophthalmic outpatient services across 2996 tertiary hospitals and 10,404 secondary hospitals in 31 provinces in mainland China.

Results: The response rate was 73.

Intersession repeatability of visual function and OCTA metrics in eyes with diabetic macular ischaemia.

Objective: To estimate inter-session coefficient of repeatability (CR) of visual function and OCTA metrics over 3 months in diabetic macular ischaemia (DMI) in stable laser-treated proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients.

Methods: This prospective study recruited patients with stable PDR for at least 6 months following pan-retinal photocoagulation with visual acuity of at least 54 ETDRS letters. DMI was confirmed on OCTA as FAZ area of at least 0.

The urgent need to accelerate synthetic data privacy frameworks for medical research.

Synthetic data, generated through artificial intelligence technologies such as generative adversarial networks and latent diffusion models, maintain aggregate patterns and relationships present in the real data the technologies were trained on without exposing individual identities, thereby mitigating re-identification risks. This approach has been gaining traction in biomedical research because of its ability to preserve privacy and enable dataset sharing between organisations. Although the use of synthetic data has become widespread in other domains, such as finance and high-energy physics, use in medical research raises novel issues.

Macular Capillary Nonperfusion in Eyes With Stable Laser-Treated Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Importance: Some eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) treated to stability with panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) continue to lose vision without diabetic macular edema. One presumed cause is macular capillary nonperfusion (CNP)-associated ischemia or infarction. Natural history data of macular CNP might guide treatment trials for it.

Assessing scleral thickness in patients with POAG and myopia by using OCT.

Background: The aim of the study is to utilize swept-source OCT for imaging the rear sclera near the ONH, calculating the thickness of the SL and lamina, and examining how these measurements correspond to various metrics.

Design: Cross-sectional design with a prospective approach.

Materials And Methods: The study included 96 glaucoma patients and 39 control subjects, all with axial lengths greater than 23 mm.

Kinin B1- and B2-Receptor Subtypes Contract Isolated Bovine Ciliary Muscle: Their Role in Ocular Lens Function and Intraocular Pressure Reduction.

Bradykinin is an endogenously produced nonapeptide with many physiological and pathological functions that are mediated by two pharmacologically defined receptor subtypes, B1- and B2-receptors. Current studies sought to characterize the functional bradykinin (BK) receptors present in freshly isolated bovine ciliary muscle (BCM) using an organ-bath tissue contraction system. Cumulative longitudinal isometric tension responses of BCM strips (4-5 mm) were recorded before and after the addition of test compounds to BCM strips hooked up to an isometric strain gauge transducer system.