Progression of limbal stem cell deficiency in aniridia correlates with degradation of palisade structures, gradual transformation of epithelial phenotype, onset of inflammation, and a corneal nerve deficit. IVCM can be useful in monitoring early- to late-stage degenerative changes in stem cell-deficient patients.

. Purpose:  To investigate the epidemiology of aniridia in the populations of Sweden and Norway. Methods:  A thorough search for aniridia patients has been performed in Sweden and Norway. All participants had a clinical ophthalmological examination documented through photography. Blood samples were taken for mutation analysis and pedigrees were established. Results:  A total of 181 patients with aniridia were identified in the two countries. This gives an age‐specific prevalence of 1:72 000 in the entire region, 1:70 000 in Sweden and 1:76 000 in Norway. A total of 124 individuals (69%) were examined. Male/female ratio was 0.94 (Sweden 0.85 and Norway 1.2). Mean age of the examined patients was 29 years and median age 25 years. We did not find any significant age difference between the two countries. The mean visual acuity (VA) was 0.19 (Sweden 0.19 and Norway 0.18).The number of families with more than one affected member was 31 and the number of sporadic cases was 40. Conclusion:  We have done a thorough search of the literature, but we have found no earlier studies describing aniridia in an entire country and only a few reports from larger areas. We assume that most aniridia patients have been found and the aniridia prevalence of 1:72 000 can be regarded as well supported. Further studies on other aspects of aniridia are in progress, and information from these can contribute to guidelines for the care of patients with this rare but serious disease.

Objective: To document the clinical and morphologic corneal findings in the early stages of congenital aniridic keratopathy in Swedish families. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanDesign: Prospective, observational, comparative case series. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanParticipants: A total of 16 eyes of 16 subjects with congenital aniridic keratopathy and a clear central cornea, and 6 eyes from 6 healthy controls (unaffected relatives). Nine of the 16 eyes with aniridia came from 5 families with a documented familial history of aniridia. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods: Detailed ophthalmic examinations included best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), tear film production, tear break-up time (BUT), corneal touch sensitivity, intraocular pressure measurement, ultrasound pachymetry, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, and laser scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM). less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMain Outcome Measures: Confirmed stage of aniridic keratopathy, clinical parameters of cornea and tear film (visual acuity, sensitivity, corneal thickness, tear production, and BUT), and the morphologic status of corneal epithelium, sub-basal nerves, and limbal palisades of Vogt. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults: In early-stage aniridic keratopathy, BSCVA and tear BUT were reduced relative to controls (P andlt; 0.001 for both), and corneal thickness was increased (P = 0.01). Inflammatory dendritic cells were present in the central epithelium in aniridia, with significantly increased density relative to controls (P = 0.001). Discrete focal opacities in the basal epithelial region were present in 5 of 11 aniridia cases with an otherwise clear cornea. Opacities were associated with dendritic cells and harbored structures presumed to be goblet cells. Sub-basal nerves were extremely dense in 3 aniridia cases, and a prominent whorl pattern of nerves and epithelial cells was observed in 1 case. Normal limbal palisade morphology was absent in aniridia but present in controls. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusions: Early-stage aniridic keratopathy is characterized by the development of focal opacities in the basal epithelium, altered sub-basal nerves, infiltration of the central epithelium by dendritic cells, tear film instability, and increased corneal thickness and degradation of limbal palisade architecture. These findings may help to elucidate the pathogenesis of aniridic keratopathy. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanFinancial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Funding Agencies|European Union||Crown Princess Margaretas Foundation for the Visually Impaired||Swedish Eye Fund||Carmen and Bertil Regners Foundation||David and Beth Dahlins Foundation||King Gustav V and Queen Victorias Freemasons Foundation||County Council of Ostergotland||Association of the Blind in Ostergotland||

This research identified the presence of visible keratopathy in 80% of eyes. In addition, 26% of eyes had a keratopathy level that caused visual disturbances. The study showed that the prevalence and severity of keratopathy increased with the patient's age. Further conclusions are that intraocular surgery increases the severity of keratopathy and that the severity of keratopathy is correlated to reduced corneal sensitivity. Finally, extreme care should be taken when selecting patients for intraocular surgery because this procedure can trigger the development of keratopathy.

Aniridia is a rare congenital genetic disorder caused by haploinsuffiency of the PAX6 gene, the master gene for development of the eye. The expression of tear proteins in aniridia is unknown. To screen for proteins involved in the aniridia pathophysiology, the tear fluid of patients with diagnosed congenital aniridia was examined using two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Two-dimensional map of tear proteins in aniridia has been established and 7 proteins were differentially expressed with P less than 0.01 between aniridia patients and control subjects. Five of them were more abundant in healthy subjects, particularly alpha-enolase, peroxiredoxin 6, cystatin S, gelsolin, apolipoprotein A-1 and two other proteins, zinc-alpha 2-glycoprotein and lactoferrin were more expressed in the tears of aniridia patients. Moreover, immunoblot analysis revealed elevated levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in aniridia tears which is in concordance with clinical finding of pathological blood and lymph vessels in the central and peripheral cornea of aniridia patients. The proteins with different expression in patients tears may be new candidate molecules involved in the pathophysiology of aniridia and thus may be helpful for development of novel treatment strategies for the symptomatic therapy of this vision threatening condition. Biological significance This study is first to demonstrate protein composition and protein expression in aniridic tears and identifies proteins with different abundance in tear fluid from patients with congenital aniridia vs. healthy tears

Aniridia is a congenital pan-ocular disorder caused by haplo-insufficiency of Pax6, a crucial gene for proper development of the eye. Aniridia affects a range of eye structures, including the cornea, iris, anterior chamber angle, lens, and fovea. The ocular surface in particular can be severely affected by a progressive pathology termed aniridiaassociated keratopathy (AAK), markedly contributing to impaired vision. The purpose of this review is to provide an update of the current knowledge of the genetic, clinical, micromorphological, and molecular aspects of AAK. We draw upon material presented in the literature and from our own observations in large aniridia cohorts. We summarize signs and symptoms of AAK, describe current options for management, and discuss the latest research 2 findings that may lead to better diagnosis and new treatment or prevention strategies for this debilitating ocular surface condition.

Meiotic prophase has been studied by both light and electron microscopy in diploid cell lines (h+/h‐) of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. One wild‐type and one mutant strain were used, the latter (mei4‐B2) being blocked after premeiotic DNA synthesis and after commitment to meiosis. Meiosis and sporulation were induced in liquid culture by a shift to a sporulation medium devoid of a nitrogen source. The time course was determined from light‐microscopic preparations; most cells passing through meiotic prophase between 5 and 8 h after the shift. In samples from that interval, ca. 20% of the nuclei were elongate in shape, containing strands of chromatin in rough alignement with the long axis of the nucleus. This stage was found to accumulate in the mutant. A bundle of microtubules, just outside of the spindle plaque, apparently stabilized the elongated shape of the nuclei. Linear electron‐dense structures were observed to populate these nuclei. They resembled unpaired lateral elements of synaptonemal complexes in other organisms. Yet, at no times did we observe a tripartite complex or any other sign of chromosomal pairing in our material.

No abstract