As digital display devices become more and more indispensable, associated health problems have started to increase. We aimed to investigate the frequency and relationship of digital display device usage behaviours and dry eye syndrome (DES) in medical students. An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted on medical school students who voluntarily participated in our study online, about the duration and variety of their digital screen use, usage patterns, and protective measures, together with the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire. Where necessary, the Schirmer-I, tear break-up time, and fluorescein staining tests were carried out. Of the 255 participants, 75.3% (n = 192) were female, 63.1% (n = 161) had no refractive vision defects, and 45.9% used smartphones for more than 5 h a day. According to the OSDI scores for DES screening, only 36.1% of the participants were normal, 17.3% had mild DES, 20.4% had moderate DES, and 26.3% had severe DES. A positive correlation was found between digital display usage time in hours per day and a high OSDI score. As the distance between the eye and the screen decreased, the DES score increased, which is significant for computer, e-book, and tablet use (P < 0.005). The DES rate of the 25 participants who underwent further evaluation was 40% for the tear break-up time test and 52% for the fluorescein staining test. The high prevalence of DES due to digital screen use among medical school students highlights the importance of DES screening as a preventive measure in family medicine.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of topical 5% hesperidin application on healing. Materials and Methods: After 48 rats were randomized and divided into 7 groups, on the first day, an epithelial defect was created in the center of the cornea with the help of microkeratome under intraperitoneal ketamine+xylazine and topical 5% proparacaine anesthesia for the groups to be infected with keratitis according to the groups mentioned below. An amount of 0.05 mL of the solution containing 108 colony-forming units/ mL Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA-ATC27853) will be taken and inoculated per rat. At the end of the 3 days incubation period, rats with keratitis will be added to the groups, and active substances and antibiotics will be given topically together with other groups for 10 days. At the end of the study, the ocular tissues of the rats will be removed and examined histopathologically. Results: A clinically significant reduction in inflammation was detected in the groups using hesperidin. No transforming growth factor-β1 staining was detected in the group in which keratitis+hesperidin was treated topically. In the group in which hesperidin toxicity was examined, mild inflammation and thickening of the corneal stroma layer were observed, and it was evaluated as a negative transforming growth factor-β1 expression in the lacrimal gland tissue. Corneal epithelial damage was minimal in the keratitis group, and the toxicity group was treated with only hesperidin when compared to the other groups. Conclusion: Topical hesperidin drops may be an important therapeutic factor in tissue healing and in the fight against inflammation in the treatment of keratitis. Cite this article as: Utlu B, Öndaş O, Yıldırım M, Bayrakçeken K, Yıldırım S. Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis in rats: Study of the effect of topical 5% hesperidin practice on healing. Eurasian J Med 2023;55(1):64-68.

Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that impairs the sharp and central vision need for daily activities. Recent advances in molecular biology research not only lead to a better understanding of the genetics and pathophysiology of AMD but also to the development of applications based on targeted gene expressions to treat the disease. Clarification of molecular pathways that causing to development and progression in dry and wet types of AMD needs comprehensive and comparative investigations in particular precious biopsies involving peripheral blood samples from the patients. Therefore, in this investigation, dry and wet types of AMD patients and healthy individuals were aimed at investigating in regard to targeted gene candidates by using gene expression analysis for the first time. 13 most potent candidate genes involved in neurodegeneration were selected via in silico approach and investigated through gene expression analysis to suggest new targets for disease therapy. For the analyses, 30 individuals (10 dry and 10 wet types AMD patients and 10 healthy people) were involved in the study. SYBR‐Green based Real‐Time PCR analysis was performed on isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to analyze differentially expressed genes related to these cases. According to the investigations, only the CRP gene was found to be upregulated for both dry and wet disease types. When the downregulated genes were analyzed, it was found that 11 genes were commonly decreased for both dry and wet types in the aspect of expression pattern. From these genes, CFH, CX3CR1, FLT1, and TIMP3 were found to have the most downregulated gene expression properties for both diseases. From these results, it might be concluded that these common upregulated and downregulated genes could be used as targets for early diagnosis and treatment for AMD.

Objective: Diabetic retinopathy (DR), considered one of the most common microvascular complications associated with diabetes mellitus (DM), involves both neuronal and vascular dysfunctions in the retina. Neuronal damage and vision loss occur progressively in patients with DR. A number of genetic targets have been identified for DR and gene-related treatments as well as early diagnostic techniques have been developed. Despite some medical advances, DR remains a devastating complication of diabetes. This study aimed to identify new gene targets that can be used for the prognosis and treatment of DR.. Materials and Methods: Eight candidate genes were analyzed using Synergy Brands Green (SYBR-green)- based real-time polymerase chain reaction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 45 individuals: DR patients (n = 15), DM patients without DR (n = 15), and healthy controls (n = 15). STRING v11 was used for protein–protein interaction analysis. Gene expression differences were evaluated using ANOVA, with significance set at P < .05. Results: HIF1A and VEGFA were significantly upregulated in both DR and DM groups compared to controls (HIF1A: fold change 5.28; VEGFA: fold change 5.20 for DR group). SERPING1 was specifically upregulated in DR patients (fold change 3.42). CX3CR1 and BDNF were downregulated in both DR and DM groups (CX3CR1: fold change 8.32; BDNF: fold change 3.21), while IGFBP3 was significantly downregulated only in DR patients (fold change 6.5). STRING analysis revealed strong interactions between SERPING1 and complement pathway components, while IGFBP3 was linked to insulin-like growth factor signaling. Conclusion: In light of these findings, we observed that SERPING1 and IGFBP3 genes might be proposed as targets for early diagnosis and treatment for DR. Cite this article as: .inici E, Arslan ME, .ağlar Yıldırım .., et al. New gene targets for diagnosis and therapy of diabetic retinopathy. Eurasian J Med. 2025, 57(1), 0559, doi: 10.5152/eurasianjmed.2025.24559.