To assess the effectiveness and safety of repeated low-level red light (RLRL), which is a newly available treatment for myopia control in children and adolescents with high myopia. Multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, single-blind clinical trial (RCT; NCT05184621). Between February 2021 and April 2022, 192 children aged 6 to 16 years were enrolled. Each child had at least one eye with myopia of cycloplegic spherical equivalent refraction (SER) at least -4.0 diopters, astigmatism of 2.0 diopters or less, anisometropia of 3.0 diopters or less, and best-corrected visual acuity of 0.2 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution or better. Follow-up was completed by April 2023. Participants were randomly assigned at a 1:1 ratio to intervention (RLRL treatment plus single-vision spectacles) or control (single-vision spectacles) groups. The RLRL treatment was administered for 3 minutes per session, twice daily with a minimum interval of 4 hours, 7 days per week. The primary outcome and key secondary outcome were changes in axial length and cycloplegic SER measured at baseline and the 12-month follow-up visit. Participants who had at least 1 post randomization follow-up visit were analyzed for treatment efficacy. Among 192 randomized participants, 188 (97.91%) were included in the analyses (97 in the RLRL group and 95 in the control group). After 12 months, the adjusted mean change in axial length was -0.06 mm (95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.10 to -0.02 mm) and 0.34 mm (95% CI: 0.30 to 0.39 mm) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. There were 48 participants (50.3%) of the intervention group were still experiencing axial shortening more than 0.05mm at 12-month follow-up. Furthermore, the mean spherical equivalent refraction change after 12 months was 0.11 D (95% CI: 0.02 to 0.19 D) and -0.75 D (95% CI: -0.88 to -0.62 D) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. RLRL demonstrates much stronger treatment efficacy among high myopia, with 50.3% experience substantial axial shortening. RLRL provides an excellent solution for the management of high myopia progression, a significant challenge in ophthalmology practice.

Corneal dystrophy is a common type of hereditary corneal diseases. It includes many types, which have varied pathology, histology and clinical manifestations. Recently, the examination techniques of ophthalmology and gene sequencing advance greatly, which do benefit to our understanding of these diseases. However, many aspects remain still unknown. And due to the poor knowledge of these diseases, the results of the treatments are not satisfoctory. The purpose of this review was to summarize the clinical, histological and genetic characteristics of different types of corneal dystrophies.

Background: Bilateral sequential cataract surgery within a short period is becoming more prevalent because of the efficiency and safety of modern cataract surgery. It has been reported that the first surgical eye might affect the contralateral eye. This study investigated the cytokines involved in the immunopathogenesis of pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions, as well as the inflammatory biomarkers in response to topical stimuli, by analyzing the cytokine profile of aqueous humor (AH) from cataract patients without these morbidities as control and with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) or high myopia (HM) in each eye at the beginning of first (defined as baseline) and second eye cataract surgery. Methods: Forty patients were recruited in this cohort study (10/group). Bilateral sequential cataract surgeries were conducted at intervals of 12.08 ± 1.2 days. Aqueous humor samples (100–200 μL/eye) were separately collected from 40 first-eyes and 40 second-eyes at the beginning of the cataract surgeries. Twenty-seven selected cytokines were detected with Luminex-multiplex immunoassay. The concentrations of cytokines in the aqueous humor and their association with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions were analyzed and compared between and within the groups. Results: Before first-eye surgery (baseline), the levels of interleukin (IL)-1ra, IL-13 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were significantly increased in PACG compared with controls. The levels of IL-13 were increased while that of IL-15 were decreased in HM. Compared with controls, 11 cytokines were significantly increased in DM. In the AH of the contralateral eye after first-eye cataract surgery, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was significantly more abundant in PACG and HM, while the levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) were decreased in PACG. We also identified 6 significantly upregulated cytokines in DM compared with controls. Compared with baseline, there was an overlap of 5 altered cytokines in the AH of contralateral eyes after first-eye surgery between the four groups. Some were exclusively altered in each subgroup, with 1 in the control group, 4 cytokines in the PACG and HM groups, and none in the DM group. Conclusions: From the initial profile, it is observed that patients with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions have some degree of inflammation in their eyes before surgery and in the contralateral eye after the first eye cataract surgery, which could be peculiar of the morbid conditions of the patients. Inflammation was more detectable in patients with type 2 DM before surgery. PACG and HM patients showed stronger intraocular inflammatory reactions to topical stimuli compared with controls and DM patients. Our data suggest that ophthalmologists should pay closer attention to inflammatory responses, especially in cataract patients with pre-existing conditions, although the clinical significance of these changes following surgery remains to be further investigated.

Background: Although the current role of cytokines and neuroinflammation in glaucoma remains obscure, it represents an expanding field in research. The purpose of this study was to analyze cytokines in the aqueous humor (AH) of glaucoma patients and in retinas from an ex vivo glaucoma animal model, to aid in determining the role of neuroinflammation in glaucoma. Methods: AH samples were collected from 20 patients during cataract surgeries (controls: n = 10, age = 70.3 ± 9.742; glaucoma: n = 10, age: 66.5 ± 8.073) in Shanghai East Hospital, an affiliate of Tongji University, between September 2018 and March 2019 and analyzed in duplicate by Luminex cytokine polystyrene color bead-based multiplex assay. Retinas from female Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 6) were harvested ex vivo and cultured with or without 60 mmHg of hydrostatic pressure for 24 hours. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were quantified using Brn3a staining. Cytokines in the retina and culture medium were analyzed by rat cytokine array (Abcam). Results: At baseline, patients with primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) have significantly lower levels of IL-6 and IP-10 and a higher level of PDGF-BB in their AH, compared to the controls. Postoperatively, patients with PACG have significantly higher levels of IL-1ra, IL-13, and MIP-1α and a lower level of IL-6. Elevated hydrostatic pressure led to significant RGC loss in the retina, ex vivo, as well as the upregulation of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), IL-6, IL-10, IL-4, and TIMP-1 alongside the downregulation of PDGF-AA, MMP-8, TNF-α, and IFN-γ. Furthermore, eight cytokines were detected as being downregulated in the culture medium, including PDGF-AA, MMP-8, and IL-4. Conclusions: Proinflammatory cytokines showed changes in both AH and ex vivo. Further studies are needed on the role of these cytokines and their corresponding signaling pathways in both neurodegeneration and glaucoma.