Idiopathic macular hole (IMH) refers to full thickness defects of retina in macular area with no clear reasons. The management of IMH includes vitrectomy combined with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and pharmacological vitreolysis. But ILM peeling may damage the inner retina; novel techniques, such as inverted ILM flap technique and foveola non-peeling ILM surgery, autologous ILM transplantation had made the method of ILM peeling more diversified with less damage. Pharmacological vitreolysis targeting fibronectin and laminin is considered to work in a two-step mechanism, involving both vitreoretinal separation and vitreous liquefaction. Furthermore, IMH judgment and prognosis indicators like ellipsoid zone, macular hole index, hole formation factor, diameter hole index and tractional hole index based on spectral domain optical coherence tomography enriched the assessment of macular hole diameter, depth and shape. How to make full use of new interventions to reduce the incidence of macular hole and obtain a better visual acuity with closed holes is an important direction for future research.
Objective To observe the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) on integrin alpha;5 expression and its influence on human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells.Methods Human RPE cells were treated in vitro with 0.1,1.0,10.0,20.0 and 100.0 ng/ml of EGF, the mRNA and protein of integrin alpha;5 was measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction（RT-PCR）and flow cytometry. Human RPE cells were cultured under 4 conditions including DMEM/F12,DMEM/F12+10 ng/ml EGF, DMEM/F12+10 ng/ml EGF+rabbit antihuman integrin alpha;5 antibody (1∶100)，DMEM/F12+10 ng/ml EGF+rabbit antihuman vimentin antibody (1∶100), and their proliferation and migration were measured by methylthiazole tetrazolium（MTT）and Boyden chamber.Results The integrin alpha;5 mRNA level of human RPE cells was not changed after 12 hours of EGF stimulation (F=0.618, P=0.687), however it was induced in a dosedependent manner after 24 and 48 hours of EGF stimulation (F=465.303, 212.340; P=0.000,0.000).The protein level of integrinalpha;5 was higher in 10 ng/ml EGF stimulation compared with the control group and 0.1 ng/ml group（P＜0.01）.MTT and Boyden chamber showed that the integrin alpha;5 expression increased the proliferation and migration of human RPE cells. Conclusion EGF can induce integrin alpha;5 expression,thus increase the proliferation and migration of human RPE cells.
Ophthalmic imaging examination is the main basis for early screening, evaluation and diagnosis of eye diseases. In recent years, with the improvement of computer data analysis ability, the deepening of new algorithm research and the popularization of big data platform, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has developed rapidly and become a hot topic in the field of medical assistant diagnosis. The advantage of AI is accurate and efficient, which has great application value in processing image-related data. The application of AI not only helps to promote the development of AI research in ophthalmology, but also helps to establish a new medical service model for ophthalmic diagnosis and promote the process of prevention and treatment of blindness. Future research of ophthalmic AI should use multi-modal imaging data comprehensively to diagnose complex eye diseases, integrate standardized and high-quality data resources, and improve the performance of algorithms.
ObjectiveTo investigate the inhibitory effects and related mechanism of S100A4 gene silencing on oxygen-induced retinal neovascularization. Methods7-day-old C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into 5 groups including normal group, normal-S100A4 group, oxygen induced retinopathy (OIR) group, OIR-S100A4 group, OIR-green fluorescent protein (GFP) group. To establish the OIR model, mice from all groups except normal one were exposed to (75±2)% oxygen for 5 days and then to room air. In the OIR-S100A4 group and OIR-GFP group, the OIR mice were given an intravitreal injection of 1μl of 1.0×109 PFU/ml adenovirus of Ad-S100A4-RNAi or Ad-GFP at P12, and then returned to normoxia for the next 5 days. In the OIR group, OIR was induced in C57bl/6J mice from P7 to P17. In the normal-S100A4 group, the normal P12 mice were give an intravitreal injection of 1 μl of Ad-S100A4-RNAi adenovirus, and maintained in room air from P12 to P17. In normal group, newborn mouse litters were maintained in room air from P0 to P17 without any treatment. Mice in all five groups were euthanized at P17, and retinas were collected for biochemical assays and morphological study. Retinal neovascularization (RNV) was evaluated by counting the number of pre-retinal neovascular cells and the whole mount immunofluorescent staining of the mouse retina. Protein and mRNA expression levels of S100A4, cAMP responsive element binding protein (CREB), B cell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2), Caspase-3 were determined with western blot and real-time PCR. ResultsThe number of pre-retinal neovascular cell nuclei in retinas from OIR-S100A4 group were obviously lower than those in the retinas from OIR group and OIR-GFP group (t=13.61, 14.64; P < 0.05). In OIR-S100A4 group, the retinal neovascular tufts area and the vaso-oblitertion area were both significantly smaller than those in OIR group and OIR-GFP group (P < 0.05). Protein level of CREB and bcl-2 were significantly down-regulated in OIR-S100A4 group than those in OIR and OIR-GFP group (P < 0.05).On the contrary, protein levels of Caspase-3 were up-regulated in OIR-S100A4 group than those in OIR and OIR-GFP group (P < 0.05). ConclusionAd-S100A4-RNAi transfer ameliorates RNV in mouse model of OIR maybe through down-regulating the expression of bcl-2 and CREB, and up-regulating the Caspase-3.
Optogenetics is a novel technique which combines optics with genetics. Using genetic means, a selected opsin protein is ectopically expressed in target neurons, which are then stimulated by light to moderate the neuronal circuit, as a consequence to regulate the animal's behaviors. Retinal degeneration like retinitis pigmentosa and aged macular degeneration causes visual impairment and eventual blindness. Optogenetics techniques have opened the door to creating artificial photoreceptors in the remaining retinal circuits of retinal degeneration retinas via gene therapy. However, there are still limitations in optogenetics technique, for example, potential risk in virus infection, the choice of target cells and the low visual resolution of the experiment animal. It has been reported that vision was successfully restored to a certain extent in animal model using optogenetics technique. With higher photosensitivity of opsin protein, longer activation kinetics and higher transfection efficiency of virus vector, optogenetics techniques' application in ophthalmology will be improved.
ObjectivesTo evaluate the therapeutic effect of argon laser photocoagulation combined with intravitreous injection of triamcinolone acetonide (TA) on ischemic central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).MethodsArgon laser photocoagulation combined with intravitreous injection of TA was performed on 17 patients (17 eyes) with CRVO between December 2003 and July 2004.ResultsDuring the follow-up of 4-10 months, the visual acuity improved in 16 patients, including alleviated or even disappeared cystoid macular edema (CME) in 5, and recurred macular edema in 5 with decreased visual acuity after 3 months. Six patients had increased ocular pressure after intra-ocular injection which alleviated after treated suitably. No neovascularization in angle or secondary neovascular glaucoma was found.ConclusionArgon laser photocoagulation combined with intravitreous injection of TA may improve the visual acuity and reduce complications in ischemic CRVO, though macular edema may recur in some cases. (Chin J Ocul Fundus Dis, 2005,21:224-225)