Sreeraj Kuruppilakath Manikandan

Mr. Sreeraj Kuruppilakath Manikandan

orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

4Years (2023-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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21 November 2023 in Life
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
SMSreeraj Kuruppilakath Manikandan
Sreeraj Kuruppilakath Manikandan
ALAnn Logan
Ann Logan
MCMarc Cerrada-Gimenez
Marc Cerrada-Gimenez
LFLaurence Fitzhenry
Laurence Fitzhenry
LCLee Coffey
Lee Coffey
SRSweta Rani
Sweta Rani
Wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) is a chronic inflammation-associated neurodegenerative disease affecting the posterior part of the eye in the aging population. Aging results in the reduced functionality of cells and tissues, including the cells of the retina. Initiators of a chronic inflammatory and pathologic state in wAMD may be a result of the accumulation of inevitable metabolic injuries associated with the maintenance of tissue homeostasis from a young age to over 50. Apart from this, risk factors like smoking, genetic predisposition, and failure to repair the injuries that occur, alongside attempts to rescue the hypoxic outer retina may also contribute to the pathogenesis. Aging of the immune system (immunosenescence) and a compromised outer blood retinal barrier (BRB) result in the exposure of the privileged milieu of the retina to the systemic immune system, further increasing the severity of the disease. When immune-privileged sites like the retina are under pathological stress, certain age- and disease-related conditions may necessitate assistance from cells distant from the resident ones to help restore the functionality of the tissue. As a necessary part of tissue repair, inflammation is a major response to disease and recruits immune cells to the site of damage. We suspect that the specific reparative inflammatory responses are controlled by an autoantigen-T cell-mediated mechanism, a process that may be hindered in wAMD.