Is there an impending epidemic of myopia in Southeast Asia? An appraisal of the evidence.

Predictions on the future prevalence of myopia suggest one of the Global Burden of Disease regions will develop an epidemic like in East Asia and Singapore in Southeast Asia. This paper analyses the available evidence on prevalence of myopia in this region, concluding that the bulk of the evidence suggests that the prevalence of myopia at the end of schooling is still modest, although two papers suggest that in young adults in Thailand and Indonesia, the prevalence of myopia may be approaching levels typical of the epidemic of myopia. It also analyses an indicator of expected years of education at school entry, as well as current educational levels of adults, using data from the calculation of the UN Human Development Index.

Dietary caloric restriction protects experimental autoimmune uveitis by regulating Teff/Treg balance.

Uveitis, an autoimmune disease, often leads to blindness. CD4 T cells, including regulatory T cells (Tregs) and effector T cells (Th1 and Th17), play a critical role in its pathogenesis. Caloric restriction (CR) has been shown to alleviate autoimmune diseases.

Machine learning based metabolomic and genetic profiles for predicting multiple brain phenotypes.

Background: It is unclear regarding the association between metabolomic state/genetic risk score(GRS) and brain volumes and how much of variance of brain volumes is attributable to metabolomic state or GRS.

Methods: Our analysis included 8635 participants (52.5% females) aged 40-70 years at baseline from the UK Biobank.

Ketogenic diet modulates immune cell transcriptional landscape and ameliorates experimental autoimmune uveitis in mice.

Background: Uveitis manifests as immune-mediated inflammatory disorders within the eye, posing a serious threat to vision. The ketogenic diet (KD) has emerged as a promising dietary intervention, yet its impact on the immune microenvironments and role in uveitis remains unclear.

Methods: Utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from lymph node and retina of mice, we conduct a comprehensive investigation into the effects of KD on immune microenvironments.

Efficacy and safety of minocycline in retinitis pigmentosa: a prospective, open-label, single-arm trial.

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is characterized by progressive photoreceptor cells death accelerated by the proliferation and activation of microglia pathologically. No consensus exists on the treatment. Minocycline is recognized as a microglia inhibitor with great anti-inflammatory and neuro-protective functions.

CLMS: Bridging domain gaps in medical imaging segmentation with source-free continual learning for robust knowledge transfer and adaptation.

Deep learning shows promise for medical image segmentation but suffers performance declines when applied to diverse healthcare sites due to data discrepancies among the different sites. Translating deep learning models to new clinical environments is challenging, especially when the original source data used for training is unavailable due to privacy restrictions. Source-free domain adaptation (SFDA) aims to adapt models to new unlabeled target domains without requiring access to the original source data.

An analysis of single-cell data reveals therapeutic effects of AMG487 in experimental autoimmune uveitis.

Uveitis, an ocular autoimmune disease that poses a significant threat to vision, is caused by immune cells erroneously attacking retinal cells and currently lacks specific and effective therapeutic interventions. The CXC chemokine receptor 3 (CXCR3) facilitates the migration of immune cells to sites of inflammation. AMG487, a CXCR3 antagonist, holds potential for treating autoimmune diseases by blocking immunes cells chemotaxis.

Safety and efficacy of intralesional rituximab injection versus involved site radiation therapy in primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma: study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Involved site radiation therapy (ISRT) is a widely used treatment for primary ocular adnexal mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma with control rates over 85%; however, its complications could reach 30%-50%. Intralesional rituximab injection has shown promising results with remission rates between 65% and 100% and minimal complications. This study aimed to conduct a multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial to compare the safety and efficacy of intralesional rituximab injection versus ISRT on primary ocular adnexal MALT lymphoma.

Effective automatic classification methods via deep learning for myopic maculopathy.

Background: Pathologic myopia (PM) associated with myopic maculopathy (MM) is a significant cause of visual impairment, especially in East Asia, where its prevalence has surged. Early detection and accurate classification of myopia-related fundus lesions are critical for managing PM. Traditional clinical analysis of fundus images is time-consuming and dependent on specialist expertise, driving the need for automated, accurate diagnostic tools.

Ion channels research in hPSC-RPE cells: bridging benchwork to clinical applications.

Ion channels in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are crucial for retinal health and vision functions. Defects in such channels are intricately associated with the development of various retinopathies that cause blindness. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC)-derived RPE cells, including those from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and human embryonic stem cells (hESC), have been used as in vitro models for investigating pathogenic mechanisms and screening potential therapeutic strategies for retinopathies.

The effects of disturbance on hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid axis in zebrafish larvae after exposure to polyvinyl alcohol.

In recent years, considerable concerns have been raised regarding environmental pollution caused by water-soluble polymers (WSPs). Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), used in the textile industry and in the manufacture of medical consumables, is one type of WSPs. After use, PVA is discharged and enters aquatic ecosystems, but most of it cannot be completely biodegraded in the environment.

Synapses and dendritic spines are eliminated in the primary visual cortex of mice subjected to chronic intraocular pressure elevation.

Synaptic plasticity is essential for maintaining neuronal function in the central nervous system and serves as a critical indicator of the effects of neurodegenerative disease. Glaucoma directly impairs retinal ganglion cells and their axons, leading to axonal transport dysfuntion, subsequently causing secondary damage to anterior or posterior ends of the visual system. Accordingly, recent evidence indicates that glaucoma is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that causes damage throughout the visual pathway.

Interactions between excitatory neurons and parvalbumin interneurons in V1 underlie neural mechanisms of amblyopia and visual stimulation treatment.

As the main cause of visual function deficits in children and adolescents worldwide, amblyopia causes serious impairment of monocular visual acuity and stereopsis. The recovery of visual functions from amblyopia beyond the critical period is slow and incomplete due to the limited plasticity of the mature cortex; notably, visual stimulation training seems to be an effective therapeutic strategy in clinical practice. However, the precise neural basis and cellular mechanisms that underlie amblyopia and visual stimulation treatment remain to be elucidated.

Metabolomic signature of retinal ageing, polygenetic susceptibility, and major health outcomes.

Background/aims: To identify the metabolic underpinnings of retinal aging and examine how it is related to mortality and morbidity of common diseases.

Methods: The retinal age gap has been established as essential aging indicator for mortality and systemic health. We applied neural network to train the retinal age gap among the participants in UK Biobank and used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to profile plasma metabolites.

A Comparative and Prospective Study of Corneal Consumption and Corneal Biomechanics After SMILE and FS-LASIK Performed on the Contralateral Eyes With High Myopic Astigmatism.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the actual corneal consumption and subsequent corneal biomechanical changes after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) in eyes with high myopic astigmatism.

Methods: In this prospective, randomized study on high myopic astigmatic eyes, 74 patients with similar refractive error received SMILE in one eye and FS-LASIK in the contralateral eye were enrolled. The central stromal reduction was calculated by preoperative and postoperative central stromal thickness (CST) measurements by the RTVue optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Topical application of 666-15, a potent inhibitor of CREB, alleviates alkali-induced corneal neovascularization.

Corneal neovascularization (CNV) is a dynamically regulated process that arises due to a disruption in the equilibrium between pro-angiogenic and anti-angiogenic factors. Various cytokines are released by vascular endothelial cells and macrophages in damaged cornea, ultimately inducing CNV. The cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), a nuclear transcription factor, potentially impacts tumor angiogenesis by modulating the secretion of angiogenic proteins.

Fibrillarin homologs regulate translation in divergent cell lineages during planarian homeostasis and regeneration.

Tissue homeostasis and regeneration involve complex cellular changes. The role of rRNA modification-dependent translational regulation in these processes remains largely unknown. Planarians, renowned for their ability to undergo remarkable tissue regeneration, provide an ideal model for the analysis of differential rRNA regulation in diverse cell types during tissue homeostasis and regeneration.

Differential correlations of refractive error, axial length, and axial length-to-corneal curvature ratio with anterior segment biometrics in myopic refractive surgery candidates.

Purpose: To investigate the correlations of spherical equivalent (SE), axial length (AL), and AL to corneal curvature radius ratio (AL/CR) with anterior segment biometrics in candidates for myopic refractive surgery.

Methods: Anterior segment biometrics of 2,478 myopic refractive surgery candidates measured by Pentacam were collected retrospectively. The anterior segment biometrics included anterior corneal curvature (ACC), posterior corneal curvature (PCC), white-to-white corneal diameter (WTW), central corneal thickness (CCT), corneal volume at 3 mm (CV), anterior corneal astigmatism (ACA), posterior corneal astigmatism (PCA), anterior corneal eccentricity (ACE), posterior corneal eccentricity (PCE), anterior corneal asphericity (ACAP), posterior corneal asphericity (PCAP), anterior chamber depth (ACD), and anterior chamber volume (ACV).

A Randomized Controlled Non-Inferiority Trial Evaluating Opioid-Free versus Opioid-Sparing Analgesia for Orbital Fracture Reconstruction Under General Anesthesia.

Background And Objectives: Opioid-minimizing strategies are making their appearance in enhanced recovery after surgery. This study is aimed to explore the potential advantages of opioid-free analgesia (OFA) compared to opioid-sparing analgesia (OSA) in patients undergoing orbital fracture reconstruction.

Methods: In this prospective, single-center, randomized controlled study, we randomly recruited 122 patients undergoing orbital fracture reconstruction under general anesthesia.

Deletion of Fgfr2 in Ductal Basal Epithelium With Tamoxifen Induces Obstructive Meibomian Gland Dysfunction.

Purpose: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2 (Fgfr2) is crucial for the homeostasis of meibomian gland (MG). However, the role of Fgfr2 in MG ductal epithelial progenitors remains to be delineated. Herein, we created a new transgenic mouse model with conditional deletion of Fgfr2 from MG ductal progenitors and investigated the cell-specific role in the pathogenesis of obstructive meibomian gland dysfunction.