Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness globally characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and irreversible visual deficiency. As the most common type of glaucoma, primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is currently an unmet medical need with limited therapy by lowering intraocular pressure (IOP). However, some patients continue to progress even though their IOP are controlled. Although early diagnosis and prompt treatment are crucial in preventing irreversible visual impairment, there are currently no biomarkers for screening POAG. Metabolomics has the advantages of illustrating the final downstream products of the genome and establishing the closest link to the phenotype. So far, there is no study investigating the metabolomic profiles in both aqueous humor and plasma of POAG patients. Therefore, to explore diagnostic biomarkers, unveil underlying pathophysiology and potential therapeutic strategies, a widely targeted metabolomic approach was applied using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry with C18 liquid chromatography to characterize the metabolomic profiles in both aqueous humor and plasma of 28 POAG patients and 25 controls in our study. Partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was performed to determine differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) between POAG and age-matched controls. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was calculated to assess the prediction accuracy of the DEMs. The correlation of DEMs with the clinical parameters was determined by Pearson correlation, and the metabolic pathways were analyzed using MetaboAnalyst 4.0. PLS-DA significantly separated POAG from controls with 22 DEMs in the aqueous humor and 11 DEMs in the plasma. Additionally, univariate ROC analysis and correlation analysis with clinical parameters revealed cyclic AMP (AUC = 0.87), 2-methylbenzoic acid (AUC = 0.75), 3′-sialyllactose (AUC = 0.73) in the aqueous humor and N-lac-phe (AUC = 0.76) in the plasma as potential biomarkers for POAG. Moreover, the metabolic profiles pointed towards the alteration in the purine metabolism pathway. In conclusion, the study identified potential and novel biomarkers for POAG by crosslinking the metabolomic profiles in aqueous humor and plasma and correlating with the clinical parameters. These findings have important clinical implications given that no biomarkers are currently available for glaucoma in the clinic, and the study provided new insights in exploring diagnostic biomarkers and potential therapeutic strategies of POAG by targeting metabolic pathways.

Corneal endothelium morphological abnormalities result in fluid imbalance, stromal swelling, and loss of transparency, thus impairing visual function. Recently, growing number of studies have focused on diabetic corneal abnormalities after cataract surgery and its comparison with non-diabetic patients, the results remain conflicting. Thus, to evaluate the effect of phacoemulsification on the corneal properties in diabetic and non-diabetic patients, prospective studies were comprehensively searched through PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases updated to Jan 2017. A meta-analysis of the 13 identified studies was performed using weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). For the dynamic changes between preoperative and postoperative values, significant differences were identified between the two groups in endothelial cell density (ECD) and hexagon cells (HC%) at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively, in central corneal thickness (CCT) at 1 month postoperatively, and in coefficient variation (CV) at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively. However, no significant differences were observed in CCT at 1 day, 1 week and 3 months postoperatively or in CV at 1 day and 3 months postoperatively. Diabetic corneas are more vulnerable to stress and trauma, resulting in greater morphological abnormalities and longer recovery time.

Purpose To investigate the morphologic features of crystalline lens in primary angle closure disease (PACD) by the swept-source anterior segment optical coherence tomography. Methods This cross-sectional observational study included 125 consecutive eyes from 125 patients who underwent anterior segment optical coherence tomography (CASIA 2, Tomey, Nagoya, Japan) examination, including 38 eyes of normal controls, 57 eyes of PAC suspects (PACS), and 30 eyes with PAC or PAC glaucoma (PACG). Crystalline lens parameters were compared among the three groups. Spearman correlation analysis and multiple linear regression models were performed to evaluate the relationships between the lens parameters and related factors. Results Significant differences were found for anterior chamber depth, axial length, iridotrabecular contact index, lens vault, lens thickness (all P < 0.001), the anterior radius curvature of lens (normal vs PACS vs PAC/PACG: 9.35 ± 1.29 mm vs 8.40 ± 0.62 mm vs 8.12 ± 0.54 mm; P < 0.001), lens decentration (normal vs PACS vs PAC/PACG: 0.14 ± 0.07 mm vs 0.19 ± 0.09 mm vs 0.22 ± 0.12 mm; P = 0.004), and tilt (normal vs PACS vs PAC/PACG: 4.9 ± 1.0° vs 5.3 ± 1.2° vs 5.8 ± 1.8°; P = 0.033) among the three groups. The multivariate regression analysis found that both iridotrabecular contact index and the stage of the PACD were negatively correlated with the anterior radius curvature of lens, positively correlated with lens thickness and decentration after adjustment for age, sex, and axial length (all P < 0.05). Conclusions Steep anterior curvature and decentration of the crystalline lens may be another anatomic characteristic of eyes with PACD. These findings support that the crystalline lens morphologic features may have great contribution to the development of PACD.