Purpose.To measure the concentrations of various cytokines in the aqueous humor from patients with different stages of diabetic retinopathy.Methods.All selected cataract patients were categorized into 4 groups: the control group (patients without diabetes), nonretinopathy (NDR) group (diabetic patients without retinopathy), nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) group, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) group. The aqueous concentrations of interleukin- (IL-) 1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) from patients were measured using the cytometric bead array technique.Results.In this study, 10, 22, 15, and 14 patients were included in the control, NDR, NPDR, and PDR groups, respectively. No difference was observed in the aqueous concentrations of all cytokines between the control group and the NDR group. By contrast, comparison of these groups revealed that the aqueous concentrations of most inflammatory cytokines were significantly higher in the PDR and NPDR groups. In addition, the concentrations of IL-2, IL-5, and VEGF were higher in the PDR group than those in the NPDR group.Conclusions.Aqueous concentrations of various cytokines increased with the severity of patients’ diabetic retinopathy. This finding implies that these cytokines might play a role in the progression of diabetic retinopathy.

This study aimed to investigate causal relationships between gut microbiota, blood metabolites, immune cell traits, circulating inflammatory proteins, and myopia through Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Mendelian randomization study. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data of 412 gut microbiota, 1400 blood metabolites/metabolite ratios, 731 immune cell traits, and 91 circulating inflammatory proteins from the public GWAS database. Genome-wide association study data of myopia from the public GWAS database and FinnGen consortium. Two-sample MR analysis and meta-analysis were employed using 4 methods, with inverse-variance weighted as the primary approach, to investigate potential causal links. Metabolic pathway analysis was conducted to explore metabolic pathways. The Cochran Q-test, MR-Egger intercept test, and MR-PRESSO were used for sensitivity analyses. Mediation and reverse MR analyses were also carried out to identify potential mediation relationships and modification effects of myopia. Causal relationships between gut microbiota, blood metabolites, immune cell traits, circulating inflammatory proteins, and myopia. We identified causal effects of 34 and 22 gut microbiota/bacterial pathways, 131 and 98 blood metabolites/metabolite ratios, 60 and 37 immune cell traits, and 5 and 2 circulating inflammatory proteins on myopia (ukb-b-6353 and R10_H7_MYOPIA, respectively). Overlapping causal relationships were found for 1 gut bacterial pathway, 10 blood metabolites/metabolite ratios, and 2 immune cell traits across both outcomes; however, none of these overlaps reached significance after meta-analysis. The Small Molecule Pathway Database and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database enriched 14 significant pathways. Flavin adenine dinucleotide was involved in 8 pathways in both databases. Furthermore, the causal effect of glycochenodeoxycholate glucuronide on myopia was mediated by acetyl-CoA fermentation to butanoate lI, with mediation proportion of 19.03% (ukb-b-6353) and 19.48% (R10_H7_MYOPIA). Reverse MR analysis identified modification effects of myopia (ukb-b-6353) on gut microbiota, blood metabolites, and circulating inflammatory proteins. These findings demonstrated significant causal relationships between gut microbiota, blood metabolites, immune cell traits, circulating inflammatory proteins, and myopia. Gut microbiota pathway may mediate the causal effects of blood metabolite on myopia. This may provide researchers with a new perspective in exploring the biological mechanisms of myopia and may lead to the exploration of earlier treatment strategies. The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of Idelalisib, Apelisib and Copanlisib on 8-day-old cataract SD rat pups.The rat model induced by sodium selenate (Na2SeO3) was used in ...

Background: Phacoemulsification surgery is the standard treatment for cataract. However, excessive ultrasound (US) energy may cause injury to the corneal endothelium and other ocular tissues. Recently, a new prechop technique assisted with the reverse chopper is showed to be more efficient and safe, by splitting the nuclei in situ without using any US energy. However, it is verified only in treating some kinds of complex cataracts such as grade IV hard nuclei cataract, small-pupil cataract, and ultra-high myopia cataract. Since grade III nuclei cataract is the most common type of cataract, it is necessary to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prechop technique with reverse chopper in routine cataract surgery. Methods: This prospective, two-parallel, randomized controlled trial was conducted in Beijing Tongren Hospital from January 2022 to September 2022. A total of 89 cataract patients (89 eyes) were enrolled and then randomly assigned to either the reverse chopper-assisted prechop group (n=45) or the phaco-chop group (n=44). The patients were followed for 3 months postoperatively. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), cumulative dissipated energy (CDE), corneal endothelial cell loss (ECL), and degree of corneal edema were evaluated and compared between these 2 groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and GraphPad Prism 8.0. Results: The CDE of the reverse chopper-assisted prechop group was significantly less than that of the phaco-chop group (P=0.011). Compared with the phaco-chop group, the corneal edema in the reverse chopper-assisted prechop group was milder (P=0.026) and the BCVA was better (P=0.0012) at 1 day after surgery. No significant difference was found in the count or rate of corneal ECL between the 2 groups at 1 month after surgery (corneal ECL count: P=0.090; corneal ECL rate: P=0.053). The BCVA of the 2 groups at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery was equivalent (P=0.052, 0.26, and 0.41, respectively). Conclusions: The prechop technique assisted with the reverse chopper in treating cataract with grade III nuclei enables less phaco energy consumption, milder ocular structural damage, and faster recovery of vision, compared with traditional phaco-chop technique.

Background: Congenital cataracts is the most common cause of childhood visual impairment and blindness worldwide. It is reported that about one quarter of congenital cataracts caused by genetic defects. Various gene mutations have been identified in hereditary cataracts so far. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between gap junction protein alpha 8 (GJA8) gene mutation and congenital cataract. Methods: A pedigree with autosomal dominant congenital cataract was investigated and the peripheral venous blood was extracted from 18 family members. After the high-throughput targeted capture and whole exome sequencing for the proband, bioinformatics analysis was performed. By combining the proband clinical symptoms, candidate variations were eliminated which were significantly not consistent with the clinical phenotype. And disease-causing variant was identified. Results: Gene sequencing revealed the heterozygous missense mutation in exon 2 of the GJA8 gene (c.178G>A), which co-segregated with the disease phenotype in the family and resulted in the substitution of glycine to serine at position 178 (p.G60S). This missense mutation was located in the hotspot mutation region, and might be harmful. Conclusions: This study reports a novel disease-causing sequence variant in the gap junctional protein encoding genes causing autosomal dominant congenital cataract in the Chinese population, caused by the missense mutation of GJA8 (c.178G>A). Our data expand the spectrum of GJA8 variants and associated phenotypes, facilitate clinical diagnosis and support the presence of relationship between genetic basis and human disease.

Background One of the most common reasons for patients to have a second operation to remove the implantable collamer lens (ICL) is anterior subcapsular cataract (ASC), which is also one of the major problems following ICL implantation. Nonetheless, it is still unclear if patients with high myopia can benefit from contemporaneous ICL removal, cataract extraction and multifocal intraocular lens (MIOL) implantation in terms of their visual outcomes. Case presentation A 39-year-old male highly myopic patient who underwent concurrent ICL removal, cataract extraction, and TECNIS Symfony ZXR00 IOL implantation in both eyes is reported in this case. Surgeons organize the surgery taking into account the patient's strong desire for freedom from spectacles, the needs for everyday vision, and the features of the chosen IOL. Enhanced biological measurement devices, such us Pentacam and IOL Master 700, were used to get accurate parameters. The IOL power was calculated using the Barrett True-K formula, thereby allowing a residual refraction of -0.50D to -0.75D to match patient’s demand. The surgeries were performed on the right and left eyes with a 2-week interval. A comprehensive evaluation of the patient's visual outcomes was conducted at the 3-month follow-up using manifest refraction, anterior segment OCT (Casia2), defocus curve, OPD-Scan III, and NEI-VFQ-14. The patient demonstrated excellent near and intermediate vision as well as overall visual quality, with high satisfaction. Conclusion For patients with ASC requiring surgery after ICL implantation, and with a strong desire for spectacle independence and specific occupational demands, the use of TECNIS Symfony ZXR00 IOL, along with adjustments to the residual refractive power, may result in outstanding visual quality and patient satisfaction.