One of the limitations of research into diabetic retinopathy is the lack of suitable animal models. To study how the two important factors-hyperglycemia and vascular endothelial growth factor-interact in diabetic retinopathy, the Akimba mouse (Ins2 ). C57Bl/6 and the parental and Akimba mouse lines were characterized by biometric measurements, histology, immunohistochemistry, and Spectralis Heidelberg retinal angiography and optical coherence tomography. The Akimba line not only retained the characteristics of the parental strains, such as developing hyperglycemia and retinal neovascularization, but developed higher blood glucose levels at a younger age and had worse kidney-body weight ratios than the Akita line. With aging, the Akimba line demonstrated enhanced photoreceptor cell loss, thinning of the retina, and more severe retinal vascular pathology, including more severe capillary nonperfusion, vessel constriction, beading, neovascularization, fibroses, and edema, compared with the Kimba line. The vascular changes were associated with major histocompatibility complex class II ؉ cellular staining throughout the retina. Together, these observations suggest that hyperglycemia resulted in higher prevalences of edema and exacerbated the vascular endothelial growth factordriven neovascular and retinal changes in the Akimba line. Thus, the Akimba line could become a useful model for studying the interplay between hyperglycemia and vascular endothelial growth factor and for testing treatment strategies for potentially blinding complications, such as edema.

Global Retinoblastoma Study Group IMPORTANCE Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale.OBJECTIVES To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSA total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESAge at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. RESULTSThe cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4%) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 [84.7%]) were from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 [62.8%]), followed by strabismus (n = 429 [10.2%]) and proptosis (n = 309 [7.4%]). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 [95% CI,, and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 [95% CI,). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEThis study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs.

PURPOSE. We evaluated the prevalence of glaucoma in adults of the Bai Nationality populations in rural China. METHODS.A population-based survey of Chinese Bai Nationality aged ‡50 years from randomly selected block groups in southwestern China was conducted. Eligible persons were invited to local examination sites for a complete ophthalmic examination. Glaucoma was diagnosed using the International Society of Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology Classification scheme.RESULTS. In the study, 2133 subjects (77.8% participation rate) were examined, with a crude prevalence of all glaucoma of 2.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6%-2.9%). Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) was found in 1.0% of cases (95% CI 0.6%-1.6%) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) in 0.9% (95% CI 0.6%-1.4%). The prevalence of all glaucoma was significantly higher in older people and women. Mean intraocular pressure (IOP) was 16.17 6 3.74 mm Hg (97.5th and 99.5th percentiles, 24 mm Hg and 30 mm Hg, respectively). The mean vertical cup-to-disc ratio (VCDR) was 0.43 6 0.17 (97.5th and 99.5th percentiles 0.7 and 0.8, respectively). Unilateral blindness was found in 80% of PACG, compared to only 36.3% of POAG cases.CONCLUSIONS. Prevalence of POAG is similar to PACG in the ethnic Bai population living in rural southwestern China. PACG has a worse visual impairment and prognosis compared to POAG. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2012;53:3221-3225)

BackgroundTo determine the one-year incidence and progression rates of myopia and its association with baseline ocular biometric parameters in school-based samples of children and adolescents in China.MethodsTwo thousand four hundred thirty two grade 1 and 2346 grade 7 students living in the southwest part of China participated in the baseline survey. After 1 year, 2310 (95.0%) grade 1 and 2191 (93.4%) grade 7 students attended the follow-up examination. Refractive error was measured after cycloplegia using the same autorefractor and by the same optometrists in the baseline and follow-up examination. Myopia was defined as spherical equivalent of less than − 0.50 diopter.ResultsThe overall one-year incidence of myopia was 33.6% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 31.7–35.5) among grade 1 students and 54.0% (95% CI: 51.5–56.5) for grade 7 students. The one-year myopia progression rate was − 0.97 D (95% CI: -1.22 to − 0.71) in grade 1 students and − 1.02 D (95% CI: -1.07 to − 0.96) in grade 7 students. Per mm increase in baseline axial lengths increased the risk of myopia onset by 28% among grade 1 students and 22% among grade 7 students after 1 year. The incidence rates of myopia were found to be higher in grade 7 students with thinner premyopic lenses.ConclusionsThe incidence and progression rates of myopia were very high in Chinese children and adolescents in recent years. Premyopic eyes were characterized with longer axial lengths and thinner lenses. These data had considerable implications for formulating myopia prevention strategies in China.

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In vivo monitoring of retinal vascular and neural retinal changes in the Kimba mice using the Spectralis HRA+OCT imaging device allowed us to assess and track VEGF-induced damages in great detail and in real-time. Real-time monitoring of these changes can be used to study the interplay between VEGF overexpression and other molecular factors and to monitor dynamic retinal changes following therapeutic intervention.