Aims: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the main cause of blindness. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor is used to prevent further neovascularization due to wet AMD. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effect and protocol of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment on wet AMD. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, and reference lists. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata12.0 software, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), retinal thickness, and lesion size were evaluated. Results: Twelve randomized controlled trials spanning from 2010 to 2014 and involving 5,225 patients were included. A significant difference was observed between the intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) group and the intravitreal bevacizumab group (standard mean difference =-0.14, 95% confidence interval [CI] =-0.23 to -0.05). No significant differences were observed in best corrected VA, retinal thickness, or lesion size between IVR and the intravitreal aflibercept group. Compared to monthly injection, IVR as-needed injections (PRN) can raise VA by 1.97 letters (weighted mean difference =1.97, 95% CI =0.14–3.794). Combination therapy of IVR and photodynamic therapy can significantly raise VA by 2.74 letters when combined with IVR monotherapy (weighted mean difference =2.74, 95% CI =0.26–5.21). Conclusion: The superiority remains unclear between IVR and intravitreal bevacizumab in the treatment of neovascular AMD. Intravitreal aflibercept dosed every 2 months required fewer injection times, but produced similar efficacy as monthly IVR. IVR PRN could significantly increase VA. Combined with photodynamic therapy, IVR therapy could also increase VA effectively.

Although previous prevalence studies of DED were reported from some countries worldwide, national data are unavailable in China. We aimed to conduct an up-to-date national survey on the prevalence of DED in China and find out the potential risk factors including air pollutant. 23,922 eligible outpatients were recruited from ophthalmic clinics of 32 cities in China in 2013 by registration orders. The patients’ demographic characteristics, history of keratorefractive surgery, diseases and medication history were collected and the daily air pollutant data in 2013. Multivariate logistic analysis was performed to identify the potential risk factors associated with DED. The association between related factors and dry eye diseases subtypes evaluated as p value and odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Among 23,922 outpatients, the prevalence of DED was 61.57%, and that of the male patients was 57.64% and of the female was 65.32% (P < 0.0001). Multivariate logistic regression suggested that the possible risk factors for DED included: female, older age, history of keratorefractive surgery, presence of arthritis, thyroid diseases, and antihistamine, diuretic, duodenal ulcer drugs, diazepam. Air pollutants including O3, PM2.5, and SO2 were also identified as the risk factors. The prevalence of DED among ophthalmic outpatients in China was considerably high. Age, gender, history of keratorefractive surgery, diseases, medication history, and air pollutants were associated with DED prevalence.

Backgroud: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness of the elder people. This research was intended to demonstrate the different expression of microRNAs (miRNA) in AMD patients and whether they can be used as biomarkers for AMD. Methods: MiRNAs expression was measured by microarray of 6 AMD cases and 6 gender matched controls. In a larger-sample case-control study with 126 AMD cases and 140 controls, whole blood samples were detected for the differences of miRNA expression. Results: A total of 216 differentially expressed miRNAs (111 increased and 105 decreased miRNAs) were detected from circulating miRNA microarray. Expanded case-control study results showed that the expression of miR-27a-3p, miR-29b-3p and miR-195-5p was increased significantly. Moreover, the level of miR-27a is higher in patients with wet AMD compared to patients with dry AMD. All 3 miRNAs showed a potential diagnostic value for AMD. Conclusion: Circulating miRNA levels were significantly varied in AMD patients. Three miRNAs, miR-27a-3p, miR-29b-3p and the miR-195-5p, might be potential diagnostic biomarkers for AMD.

Based on GNNs and active learning, DeepReac+ is designed as a universal framework for quantitative modeling of chemical reactions. It takes molecular structures as inputs directly and adapts to various prediction tasks with fewer training data.