Methamphetamine (METH) is a drug of abuse with neurotoxic and neuroinflammatory effects, which include disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and alterations of tight junction protein expression. This study focused on the actin cytoskeletal rearrangement as a modulator of METH-induced redistribution of tight junction protein occludin in brain endothelial cells. Exposure to METH resulted in a shift of occludin localization from plasma membranes to endosomes. These changes were accompanied by activation of the actin-related protein 2/3 (Arp2/3) complex, which stimulates actin polymerization by promoting actin nucleation. In addition, METH-induced coronin-1b phosphorylation diminishes the inhibitory effect of nonphosphorylated coronin-1b on actin nucleation. Blocking actin nucleation with CK-666, a specific inhibitor of the Arp2/3 complex, protected against METH-induced occludin internalization and increased transendothelial monocyte migration. Importantly, treatment with CK-666 attenuated a decrease in occludin levels in brain microvessels and BBB permeability of METH-injected mice. These findings indicate that actin cytoskeletal dynamics is detrimental to METH-induced BBB dysfunction by increasing internalization of occludin.

Retinal vascular diseases are one of the most common causes of blindness in the developed world. Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A) is a new noninvasive method that uses several algorithms to detect blood movement. This enables the creation of high-resolution vascular images with contrast depicting motionless tissue. This review presents the results of articles relevant to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and OCT-A. The OCT-A technique can successfully be used in the diagnosis of neovascularization, retinal vein occlusion (RVO) and retinal artery occlusion (RAO), vessel abnormalities and even anterior segment neovascularization. OCT-A can also be applied to compute data such as vessel density, and flow index in both superficial and deep plexuses. Many studies have compared fluorescein angiography with OCT-A. Other studies have reported differences in vascular density in AMD patients and have compared them with people having healthy eyes. Although OCT-A offers rapid picture acquisition, high repeatability and resolution, it also has many drawbacks. The most common are: motion artifacts, projections from overlying vessels and limited field of view. An interesting new application is the possibility to assess changes during antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy. Another function of OCT-A is the possible application in the study of choriocapillaries in many fields of ocular pathology. OCT-A is a new promising method that allows the visualization of the retinal vascular network and the counting of blood flow parameters. This technique provides reliable images useful in clinical routines.

Sport has been known to be one of the most important factors in preventing cardiovascular disorders; some studies suggest its role in preventing neurodegenerative diseases. This review discusses the results of various studies regarding the effects of physical exercises on intraocular pressure (IOP), myopia, certain physical parameters of the eye, ocular blood flow, and retinal electrical function. Although dynamic exercises are known to reduce IOP from 1.2 to 5.9 mm Hg only for a short period of time, uncertainty persists about whether isometric exercises or activities such as yoga can increase IOP up to 16.7 mm Hg. There has been an established connection between the time being spent outdoor and reduction in the odds of myopia—2% less odds for every hour spent outdoor. Physical activity and the level of physical fitness have an impact on the changes of b-wave electroretinogram and P100. Physical exercises increase perfusion pressure up to 190% baseline and also increase choroidal blood flow up to 140%, thus providing more blood to retina. Sport-induced change on visual field is a subject of controversy. Majority of patients show a better ocular physiological function due to sports and sports are thus considered essential for preventing common ocular diseases. Further research should focus more on long-term effects of sport-induced changes in ocular physiology and newly discovered techniques may be utilized for such purposes.

Purpose of Review The article reviews the recent findings on the use of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in neurology. Recent Findings OCTA is a new addition to the powerful and complementary technology of the OCT. Due to its noninvasiveness, and reproducibility, it is possible to obtain high-resolution 3D images of the vessels of the human eye. As the vessels of the retina with the presence of endothelial cell’s tight junctions resemble the brain vessels, it was hypothesized that the imaging of the retinal vessels might bring insight into brain vessels. OCTA has been effectively used to predict retinal vessel abnormalities in dementia, demyelization, optic disc neuropathies, and inherited degenerative diseases. Most common findings were decrease of vascular density and flow and an increase of avascular zones. Summary Although OCTA is a relative new technology, recent studies show that it can be successfully applied in neurology.

To test the repeatability and reproducibility of the topography module in posterior segment spectral domain optical coherence tomography with Revo NX (new device) and to compare keratometry values obtained by a Scheimpflug tomography (Galilei G6) and a swept source OCT (Casia 2). In this prospective study, healthy subjects with nonoperated eyes had their central corneal thickness (CCT), anterior and posterior K1/K2 corneal power measured with the new device. Two operators made 6 measurements on the new device to check intraobserver repeatability and reproducibility, and measurement on Casia 2 and Galilei G6. Bland-Altman plots were used to assess the agreement between the devices for each analyzed variable. 94 eyes (94 patients) were studied. All devices produced significantly different mean CCT, the highest for Galilei 569.13±37.58 μm followed by Casia 545.00 ±36.15 μm and Revo 537.39±35.92 μm. The mean anterior K1 was 43.21 ± 1.37 for Casia 2 43.21 ± 1.55 for Revo NX and 43.19 ± 1.39 for Galilei G6, and the differences were insignificant p = 0.617. The posterior K1 for Revo NX was -5.77 ± 0.25 whereas for Casia 2 it was -5.98±0.22 and for Galilei G6–6.09±0.28 D p< 0.0001. The Revo NX showed intraclass correlation coefficient ranging from 0.975 for the posterior K2 surface, and 0.994 for anterior K1 and 0.998 for CCT. Revo NX is independent of the user and offers a high level of repeatability for the anterior and posterior cornea. The wide range of differences between the devices suggests they should not be used interchangeably.