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The occurrence of a macular hole due to posterior uveitis is infrequently reported. We report the evolution of three cases of macular holes secondary to posterior segment inflammation. A complete inflammatory and infectious assessment found one case of toxocariasis, one of sarcoidosis, and one of syphilis. After medical etiological treatment, macular hole closure was rapidly obtained in all the cases and confirmed by spectral domain optic coherence tomography, with visual acuity improvement. Fibrous scarring developed in two cases, and foveal photoreceptor complex normalization was observed in the sarcoidosis case. These observations demonstrate that macular holes secondary to posterior uveitis frequently resolve without surgical intervention and so could be underdiagnosed if the patient is not evaluated at the time of onset before spontaneous hole closure.

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Vitamin A and its active forms (retinoic acids/RAs) are known to have pro-healing properties, but their mechanisms of action are still poorly understood. This work aimed to identify the cellular and molecular processes by which atRA (all-trans RA) improves wound healing, using an in vivo model of mouse corneal alkali burns and an in vitro cellular human corneal epithelial injury model. Regulation by atRA has been studied on most of the cellular events that occur in wound healing. We investigated the direct influence of atRA on a specific target gene known to be involved in the extracellular matrix (ECM) dynamics, one of the pathways contributing to epithelial repair. Our results demonstrate that atRA promotes corneal epithelial wound healing by acting preferentially on migration. The induction of lysyl oxidase-like 4 (LOXL4) expression by atRA in the corneal epithelium environment was established as essential in the mechanism of atRA-dependent wound healing. Our study describes for the first time a direct link between a retinoic-induced gene and protein, LOXL4, and its general clinical pro-healing properties in ECM dynamics.

ABSTRACT.Purpose: DNA methylation is an epigenetic mark involved in the control of genes expression. Abnormal epigenetic events have been reported in human pathologies but weakly documented in eye diseases. The purpose of this study was to establish DNMT mRNA and protein expression levels in the anterior eye segment tissues and their related (primary or immortalized) cell cultures as a first step towards future in vivo and in vitro methylomic studies. Methods: Total mRNA was extracted from human cornea, conjunctiva, anterior lens capsule, trabeculum and related cell cultures (cornea epithelial, trabecular meshwork, keratocytes for primary cells; and HCE, Chang, B-3 for immortalized cells). cDNA was quantified by real-time PCR using specific primers for DNMT1, 2, 3A, 3B and 3L. Immunolocalization assays were carried out on human cornea using specific primary antibodies for DNMT1, 2 and 3A, 3B and 3L. Results: All DNMT transcripts were detected in human cornea, conjunctiva, anterior lens capsule, trabeculum and related cells but showed statistically different expression patterns between tissues and cells. DNMT2 protein presented a specific and singular expression pattern in corneal endothelium. Conclusions: This study produced the first inventory of the expression patterns of DNMTs in human adult anterior eye segment. Our research highlights that DNA methylation cannot be ruled out as a way to bring new insights into wellknown ocular diseases. In addition, future DNA methylation studies using various cells as experimental models need to be conducted with attention to approach the results analysis from a global tissue perspective.

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