Agrawal R, Agarwal A, Jabs DA, Kee A, Testi I, Mahajan S, McCluskey PJ, Gupta A, Palestine A, Denniston A, Banker A, Invernizzi A, Fonollosa A, Sharma A, Kumar A, Curi A, Okada A, Schlaen A, Heiligenhaus A, Kumar A, Gurbaxani A, Bodaghi B, Islam Shah B, Lowder C, Tappeiner C, Muccioli C, Vasconcelos-Santos DV, Goldstein D, Behra D, Das D, Makhoul D, Baglivo E, Denisova E, Miserocchi E, Carreno E, Asyari F, Pichi F, Sen NH, Uy H, Nascimento H, Tugal-Tutkun I, Arevalo FJ, Davis J, Thorne J, Hisae Yamamoto J, Smith J, Garweg JG, Biswas J, Babu K, Aggarwal K, Cimino L, Kuffova L, Agarwal M, Zierhut M, Agarwal M, DeSmet M, Tognon MS, Errera M-H, Munk M, Westcott M, Soheilian M, Accorinti M, Khairallah M, Nguyen M, Kon OM, Mahendradas P, Yang P, Neri P, Ozdal P, Amer R, Lee R, Distia Nora RL, Chhabra R, Belfort R, Mehta S, Shoughy S, Luthra S, Mohamed SO, Chee S-P, Basu S, Teoh S, Ganesh S, Barisani-Asenbauer T, Guex-Crosier Y, Ozyazgan Y, Akova Y, Habot-Wilner Z, Kempen J, Nguyen QD, Pavesio C, Gupta V, Gupta V.
Standardization of Nomenclature for Ocular Tuberculosis - Results of Collaborative Ocular Tuberculosis Study (COTS) Workshop. Ocul Immunol Inflamm 2019;:1-11.
Abstract: To standardize a nomenclature system for defining clinical phenotypes, and outcome measures for reporting clinical and research data in patients with ocular tuberculosis (OTB).: Uveitis experts initially administered and further deliberated the survey in an open meeting to determine and propose the preferred nomenclature for terms related to the OTB, terms describing the clinical phenotypes and treatment and reporting outcomes.: The group of experts reached a consensus on terming uveitis attributable to tuberculosis (TB) as tubercular uveitis. The working group introduced a SUN-compatible nomenclature that also defines disease "remission" and "cure", both of which are relevant for reporting treatment outcomes.: A consensus nomenclature system has been adopted by a large group of international uveitis experts for OTB. The working group recommends the use of standardized nomenclature to prevent ambiguity in communication and to achieve the goal of spreading awareness of this blinding uveitis entity.
Akula JD, Ambrosio L, Howard FI, Hansen RM, Fulton AB.
Extracting the ON and OFF contributions to the full-field photopic flash electroretinogram using summed growth curves. Exp Eye Res 2019;189:107827.
AbstractUnder cone-mediated (photopic) conditions, an "instantaneous" flash of light, including both stimulus onset and offset, will simultaneously activate both "ON" and "OFF" bipolar cells, which either depolarize (ON) or hyperpolarize (OFF) in response and, respectively, produce positive-going and negative-going deflections in the electroretinogram (ERG). The stimulus-response (SR) relationship of the photopic ON response demonstrates logistic growth, like that manifested in the rod-mediated (scotopic) b-wave, which is driven by a single class of depolarizing bipolar cell. However, the photopic b-wave SR function is importantly shaped by OFF responses, leading to a "photopic hill." Furthermore, both on and off stimuli elicit activity in both ON and OFF bipolar cells. This has made it difficult to produce meaningful parameters for ready interpretation of the photopic b-wave SR relationship. Therefore, we evaluated whether the sum of sigmoidal SR functions, as descriptors of the depolarizing and hyperpolarizing components of the photopic flash ERG, could be used to elucidate and quantitate the mechanisms that produce the photopic hill. We used a novel fitting routine to optimize a sum of simple sigmoidal curves to SR data in five groups of subjects: Healthy adult, 10-week-old infant, congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB), X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XJR), and preterm-born, both without and with a history of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Differences in ON and OFF amplitude, sensitivity, and implicit time among the groups were then compared using parameters extracted from these fits. We found that our modeling procedure enabled plausible derivations of ON and OFF pathway contributions to the ERG, and that the parameters produced appeared to have physiological relevance. In adult subjects, the ON and OFF amplitudes were similar in magnitude with respectively longer and shorter implicit times. Infant, CSNB, and XJR subjects showed significant ON pathway deficits. History of preterm-birth, without or with a diagnosis of ROP, did not much affect cone responses.
Amamoto R, Garcia MD, West ER, Choi J, Lapan SW, Lane EA, Perrimon N, Cepko CL.
Probe-Seq enables transcriptional profiling of specific cell types from heterogeneous tissue by RNA-based isolation. Elife 2019;8
AbstractRecent transcriptional profiling technologies are uncovering previously-undefined cell populations and molecular markers at an unprecedented pace. While single cell RNA (scRNA) sequencing is an attractive approach for unbiased transcriptional profiling of all cell types, a complementary method to isolate and sequence specific cell populations from heterogeneous tissue remains challenging. Here, we developed Probe-Seq, which allows deep transcriptional profiling of specific cell types isolated using RNA as the defining feature. Dissociated cells are labeled using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) for RNA, and then isolated by fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS). We used Probe-Seq to purify and profile specific cell types from mouse, human, and chick retinas, as well as from midguts. Probe-Seq is compatible with frozen nuclei, making cell types within archival tissue immediately accessible. As it can be multiplexed, combinations of markers can be used to create specificity. Multiplexing also allows for the isolation of multiple cell types from one cell preparation. Probe-Seq should enable RNA profiling of specific cell types from any organism.
Aminkhani A, Sharifi R, Dorosti R.
Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Achillea tenuifolia Lam. Essential Oil at Different Phenological Stages from Khoy. Chem Biodivers 2019;16(12):e1900289.
AbstractAchillea species and in particular Achillea tenuifolia Lam. is generally used as a food flavor and traditional remedies, especially in the initial developmental stage for medical conditions in the Mediterranean part of Iran. In this report, we extracted the essential oil from the aerial parts of A. tenuifolia (collected from Khoy), at various developmental stages (i. e., vegetative, flowering and fruiting), characterized them and studied their antibacterial activities. Of 46, 51 and 38 components found in the vegetative, flowering, and fruiting stages, respectively, 35 were present in all three stages, including oxygenated terpenes such as carvacrol (30.85-34.11), germacrene C (16.21-17.87), spathulenol (7.26-8.96), β-sesquiphellandrene (4.11-4.25), τ-muurolol (2.27-3.25) and α-cadinol (2.01-3.29). We witnessed that the composition of the essential oils varies with phenological stages and geographic regions. The essential oil demonstrated substantial antibacterial properties against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, indicated by disk method, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. Except Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the essential oils of various phenological stages showed higher antibacterial activity against tested bacteria, with Bacillus anthracis as the most sensitive strain. Moreover, although antibacterial characteristics of the essential oil from the vegetative and flowering stages were similar (p=0.91), they were significantly different from those of fruiting stage (p<0.005 in both MIC and MBC tests). This emphasizes the importance of the developmental stage of the plant in the biological properties of its essential oil and justifies the widespread application of this plant in the vegetative stage.
Aronow ME, Wiley HE, Gaudric A, Krivosic V, Gorin MB, Shields CL, Shields JA, Jonasch EW, Singh AD, Chew EY.
VON HIPPEL-LINDAU DISEASE: Update on Pathogenesis and Systemic Aspects. Retina 2019;39(12):2243-2253.
AbstractPURPOSE: To provide an update summarizing the biologic pathways governing von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease pathogenesis and to provide an overview of systemic manifestations as well as screening recommendations. METHODS: A PubMed search of the English language literature was reviewed using the following search terms: von Hippel-Lindau, von Hippel-Lindau disease, and VHL. Of 6,696 publications, the most current and pertinent information related to the pathogenesis and systemic aspects of VHL disease were included in this review. RESULTS: von Hippel-Lindau disease is one of the most frequently occurring multisystem familial cancer syndromes. The disease results from germline mutation in the VHL tumor suppressor gene on the short arm of chromosome 3. Mutation in the VHL gene affects multiple cellular processes including transcriptional regulation, extracellular matrix formation, apoptosis, and, in particular, the cellular adaptive response to hypoxia. As a result, there is widespread development of vascular tumors affecting the retina, brain, and spine, as well as a spectrum of benign and malignant tumors and/or cysts in visceral organs. CONCLUSION: The ophthalmologist plays a key role in VHL disease diagnosis, as retinal hemangioblastoma is frequently the first disease manifestation. Screening guidelines for individuals with known VHL disease, and those at risk of VHL disease, help to ensure early detection of potentially vision-threatening and life-threatening disease.