Objectives: To investigate the damage to the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex layer (GCL+) in diabetic patients without retinal microangioma and to determine the kind of nerve damage more likely to indicate early injury. Subjects and Methods: We included 360 patients (360 eyes) with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 168 healthy volunteers (168 eyes). Patients with retinal microangioma were excluded by fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA). The parameters around the optic disc and macular area were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results: The peripapillary RNFL thickness was thinner in the temporal (72.98 ± 13.76 µm, P < 0.0001) and inferior (120.71 ± 21.43 µm, P = 0.0103) sectors in patients with no diabetic retinopathy (NDR) compared to healthy controls. The reduction of retinal thickness in the macular region was prominent in the inferior sector in patients (34.74 ± 4.92 µm, P < 0.0001) compared to normal controls. Thinning of GCL+ in the second region of the macular area was significant in patients with NDR compared to normal controls (P < 0.05). However, no difference in the GCL+ and retinal thicknesses of the central macular region was observed between the patients with NDR and healthy controls. Using the 5th percentile (P5) of normal controls as the reference value, we found that the parameters with the highest indices in patients with NDR were the inferior and temporal peripapillary RNFL thickness (13.0%), the inferior RNFL thickness in the macular area (20%), the inferior retinal thickness in the outer ring of the macular area (10.8%), and the inferior GCL+ thickness in the macular area (10.6%). The GCL+ and RNFL thicknesses in the central macular area accounted for the smallest proportion in P5 of normal controls (3%). Conclusions: Retinal nerve injury can occur in patients without retinal microangioma. The inferior RNFL in the macular area and the inferior and temporal peripapillary RNFL were most sensitive to glucose damage. These areas might be associated with early detection of diabetic retinopathy (DR) as they are more likely to indicate early damage.
Purpose. The present study highlighted the value of anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) for different types of corneal foreign bodies in humans. Methods. This study was a prospective observational study. The patients included were divided into two groups. If the patients were directly diagnosed based on eye injury history and slit-lamp examination, then they were assigned to Group A. Otherwise, the patients were assigned to Group B. We compared and described the characteristics of the corneal foreign body in both groups using AS-OCT. Results. From October 2017 to January 2020, 36 eyes of 36 patients (9 females and 27 males) with a mean age of 37.8 ± 11.7 years were included in the study. Patients in Group A were the majority and accounted for 72.2% (26/36). High signals on AS-OCT images were the main constituent and accounted for 92.3% (24/26) in Group A and 70.0% (7/10) in Group B. Most of the patients in Group A, 96.2% (25/26), had clear boundaries. A blurred boundary was observed in 70.0% (7/10) of the patients in Group B. The foreign bodies on AS-OCT images had key characteristics of a high signal followed by a central zone shadowing effect and a low signal followed by a marginal zone shadowing effect. Further, all of the lesions could be directly located in Group B, and 92.3% (24/26) of the patients in Group A did not have directly located lesions. Six representative cases are described in detail. Conclusions. AS-OCT is a valuable tool in the diagnosis and management of corneal foreign bodies, especially for unusual corneal foreign body.
Aim. To evaluate the diagnostic value of systematic ophthalmologic imaging examination in the diagnosis of embedded optic disc drusen (ODD) in adolescents with mild visual impairment. Methods. Eleven patients were evaluated through optometric examination, fundus photography, visual field inspection, optical coherence tomography (OCT), ultrasonography (US), and fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA). Of the 11 patients, three also underwent cranial and orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results. All 11 patients had either no apparent abnormality or only mild refractive abnormalities. In all patients, fundus inspection revealed flushing the optic disc with varying degrees of limited boundary ambiguity and optic disc congestion with disappearance of the fovea. One patient had a visual field defect during the period of edema of ODD, but the visual field returned to normal after the optic disc edema subsided. US revealed discoid acousto-optic masses in front of the optic disc in six patients. OCT showed a slight elevation and thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of the optic disc in all patients. Quasicircular, hyperreflex signals of different sizes could be observed below the RNFL. Late-stage FFA revealed focal staining at the edge of the optic disc without fluorescence leakage in all patients. Orbital and cranial MRI findings were normal in the three patients. Conclusion. A systematic ophthalmologic imaging examination can not only improve the detection rate of embedded ODD but also avoid excessive examinations and treatments.
Transmembrane 2 (TMEM2) gene inhibits chronic hepatitis-B virus (HBV) infection, while the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unknown. Transcriptome alterations in HepG2 cells following TMEM2 overexpression or silencing by shRNA were analyzed by next-generation sequencing. Both overexpression and knockdown of the TMEM2 gene caused wide-spread changes in gene expression in HepG2 cells. Differentially expressed genes caused by altered TMEM2 gene expression were associated with multiple biological processes linked with viral infection and various signaling pathways. KEGG analysis revealed that many of the differentially expressed genes were enriched in the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Moreover, we show that genes related to the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, such as SYK, FLT4, AKT3, FLT1, and IL6, are biological targets regulated by TMEM2 in HepG2 cells. This is the first transcriptome-wide study in which TMEM2-regulated genes in HepG2 cells have been screened. Our findings elucidate the molecular events associated with TMEM2-mediated hepatocyte pathogenesis in chronic HBV infection.
Background: The effect of chemokine receptors and their ligands for dendritic cells (DCs) plays a critical role in the immune response, but whether chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) has an impact on DCs migrating in pterygia remains unclear. The aim of this article is to investigate the involvement of CCR7 signaling in pathogenesis of primary pterygium.Methods: Slip lamp photographs of 85 pterygia patients were used to divide the pterygia into three groups, the width, extension, and area of pterygia were measured by computer software, the blood vessels of pterygium and general eye redness were quantitatively analyzed by a specific algorithm. Expression of CCR7 and its ligands C-C motif ligand 19 (CCL19) and C-C motif ligand 21 (CCL21) in normal conjunctivae and excised pterygia collected in surgery were analyzed by qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. The phenotype of CCR7-expressing cells was identified by double-staining with major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II), CD11b and CD11c.Results: The level of CCR7 was significantly increased with 9.6-fold in pterygium when compared with normal conjunctivae (p=0.008). The higher expression of CCR7, the more blood vessels in pterygium ((R2=0.44, p<0.001) and more general ocular redness ((R2=0.25, p<0.001) pterygium patients had. CCR7 positive cells were co-located with D11b+, CD11c+ or MHC II in mature DCs. Immunofluorescence staining showed CCL21 co-staining with CCR7, which implied CCL21 may be a key ligand of CCR7 in pterygia, rather than CCL19. And CCR7 was significantly associated with the extension of pterygia (R2=0.083, p=0.047, β=0.192).Conclusions: Our research revealed a possible involvement of CCR7 in the migration of mature DCs and influence the progression of primary pterygia. Targeting CCR7 may be considered as a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of pterygium.
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