Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of quercetin on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced choroidal and retinal angiogenesis in vitro using a rhesus macaque choroid-retinal endothelial (RF/6A) cell line. Methods: RF/6A cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Then the cells were treated with different concentrations (from 0 to 100 μM) of quercetin and 100 ng/ml VEGF. The cell proliferation was assessed using cholecystokinin octapeptide dye. The cell migration was investigated by a Transwell assay. The tube formation was measured on Matrigel. Furthermore, the impact of quercetin's effects on VEGF-induced activation of VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) downstream signal pathways was tested by Western blot analysis. Results: Quercetin inhibits RF/6A cell proliferation in a dose-dependent fashion: 22.7, 31.5 and 36.7% inhibition on treatment with 10, 50 and 100 μM quercetin, respectively. VEGF-induced migration and tube formation of RF/6A cells were also significantly inhibited by quercetin in a dose-dependent manner. Quercetin inhibits VEGF-induced VEGFR-2 downstream signal pathways of RF/6A. Conclusions: The results show that quercetin inhibits VEGF-induced cell proliferation, migration and tube formation of RF/6A. We suggest that quercetin inhibits VEGF-induced choroidal and retinal angiogenesis in vitro. Collectively, the findings in the present study suggest that quercetin inhibits VEGF-induced choroidal and retinal angiogenesis by targeting the VEGFR-2 pathway. This suggests that quercetin is a choroidal and retinal angiogenesis inhibitor.

Objective. To determine the prevalence and risk factors for the recurrence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Zone II Stage 3+ after ranibizumab treatment.Methods. This was a retrospective, nonrandomized, noncontrolled study that excluded Zone I and aggressive posterior ROP (APROP) cases. Infants who developed Zone II Stage 3 ROP with plus disease and underwent initial intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR) were recruited. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on the outcome after initial ranibizumab treatment: recurrence of ROP or favorable outcome. Data was collected and analyzed by SPSS 16.0.Results. Forty-two patients were included, and 80 eyes with Zone II Stage 3+ were subjected to IVR treatment. Eleven of 42 patients (26.2%, 18 eyes) had a recurrence of ROP after the initial treatment. On univariate analysis, preretinal hemorrhage before treatment was significantly different between the two groups (P=0.000). Multivariate analysis found that preretinal hemorrhage before treatment was the only factor associated with the recurrence of ROP in our study (P=0.004).Conclusions. The recurrence rate of ROP in Zone II Stage 3+ after initial ranibizumab treatment was notable and preretinal hemorrhage before treatment was associated with the recurrence of ROP in our study.

Purpose. By comparing the performance of different models between artificial intelligence (AI) and doctors, we aim to evaluate and identify the optimal model for future usage of AI. Methods. A total of 500 fundus images of glaucoma and 500 fundus images of normal eyes were collected and randomly divided into five groups, with each group corresponding to one round. The AI system provided diagnostic suggestions for each image. Four doctors provided diagnoses without the assistance of the AI in the first round and with the assistance of the AI in the second and third rounds. In the fourth round, doctor B and doctor D made diagnoses with the help of the AI and the other two doctors without the help of the AI. In the last round, doctor A and doctor B made diagnoses with the help of AI and the other two doctors without the help of the AI. Results. Doctor A, doctor B, and doctor D had a higher accuracy in the diagnosis of glaucoma with the assistance of AI in the second ( , , and ) and the third round ( , , and ) than in the first round. The accuracy of at least one doctor was higher than that of AI in the second and third rounds, in spite of no detectable significance ( , , , and ). The four doctors’ overall accuracy ( and ) and sensitivity ( and ) as a whole were significantly improved in the second and third rounds. Conclusions. This “Doctor + AI” model can clarify the role of doctors and AI in medical responsibility and ensure the safety of patients, and importantly, this model shows great potential and application prospects.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-021-04064-3

What is known Occlusion with Bangerter filters designed with different translucent microscopic diffusers is an effective treatment for anisometropic amblyopia. What is new Bangerter filters were found to show an effect on slowing down ocular axial length (AL) growth. When rapid hyperopic reduction occurs in the non-amblyopic eye combined with persistently widening interocular AL differences, Bangerter filter application represents a more preferable alternative to patching for managing anisometropic amblyopia. Bangerter filter occlusion is an effective clinical method for amblyopia treatment. This study aimed to compare the nonamblyopic eyes elongation and refraction change of patching and Bangerter filter occlusion in treating patients with anisometropic amblyopia and to further investigate the effect of Bangerter filter on axial length growth. This retrospective study included 54 patients with anisometropic amblyopia categorized by initial treatment: patching group (n = 24) and Bangerter filter group (n = 30). Consecutive records of both the amblyopia and nonamblyopia eyes were reviewed from baseline before treatment onset to follow-up visits during or post-treatment, including best corrected visual acuity, pneumatic intraocular pressure, spherical equivalent refraction (SER), axial length (AL), corneal curvature, binocular visual function, and accommodative function. In addition, macrostructures of three different densities of Bangerter filters and diffusion optics technology lenses were observed and compared. The nonamblyopic eyes in the Bangerter filter group had significantly lower AL increases from baseline (- 0.15 and - 0.20, respectively, P < 0.05) and significantly fewer SER reductions from baseline (0.45 and 0.57, respectively, P < 0.05) compared with the patching group at both two follow-up visits. The interocular AL difference between nonamblyopic and amblyopic eyes increased by 0.15 ± 0.27 mm in the occlusion group at the second follow-up (from baseline 0.23 ± 0.61 mm to second follow-up 0.38 ± 0.69 mm, P = 0.004), while it decreased by 0.18 ± 0.20 mm in the Bangerter filter group at the second follow-up (from baseline 0.72 ± 0.68 mm to second follow-up 0.54 ± 0.69 mm, P < 0.001). Bangerter filter, as a traditional occlusion therapy, have been shown to effectively slow ocular AL growth thereby reducing interocular axial length disparity when compared to patching therapy in anisometropic amblyopia treatment. Rapid reduction of hyperopic refraction in non-amblyopic eyes combined with persistent increases in interocular AL difference may constitute a novel indication for Bangerter filter application.