Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Investigation Of Surrogate Biomarkers Associated With Macular Pigment Status In A Group Of Older Irish Adults, Grainne Scanlon, John S. Butler, Daniel Mccartney, Ekaterina Lostutova, Rose Anne Kenny, James Loughman

Articles

SIGNIFICANCE: Macular pigment (MP) confers potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects at the macula; however, its optical density in the eye is not routinely measured in clinical practice.

PURPOSE: This study explored a range of surrogate biomarkers including anthropometric, clinical, and plasma measures that may be associated with lower MP optical density (MPOD).

METHODS: Two thousand five hundred ninety-four subjects completed a full MP assessment as part of wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study of Aging. Macular pigment optical density was measured using customized heterochromatic flicker photometry. Clinical (blood pressure), plasma (lipoproteins, inflammatory markers), and anthropometric (waist, hip, height, weight) …

The Relationship Between Serum Zinc Levels And Myopia, Niamh Burke, John Butler, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Clinical significance: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amenable to nutritional influence. However, little attention has been given to possible die- tary influences. This study demonstrates that serum zinc does not play a role in myopia development. Background: Myopia is inherently associated with eye growth and thereby possibly amena- ble to nutritional influence. A number of Asian studies have reported lower levels of serum zinc in myopic children. This study was designed to assess the relationship between serum zinc and myopia in the Korean population – using a subsample of participants from nation- ally representative data.

The Spatial Frequency Content Of Urban And Indoor Environments As A Potential Risk Factor For Myopia Development, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Elise Harb, Christine F Wildsoet

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To examine the hypothesis that the spatial frequency spectra of urban and indoor environments differ from the natural environment in ways that may promote the development of myopia. Methods: A total of 814 images were analyzed from three datasets; University of California Berkeley (UCB), University of Texas (UT), and Botswana (UPenn). Images were processed in Matlab (Mathworks Inc) to map the camera color characteristics to human cone sensitivities. From the photopic luminance images generated, two-dimensional spatial frequency (SF) spectra were calculated and converted to one-dimensional spectra by rotational averaging. The spatial filtering profile of a 0.4 Bangerter foil, which has …

Optimising Subjective Anterior Eye Grading Precision, Marta Vianya-Estopa, Manbir Nagra, Arnold Cochrane Arnold Cochrane, Neil Retallic Neil Retallic, Dean Dunning, Louise Terry Louise Terry, Aoife Lloyd, James Wolffsohn

Articles

To establish the optimum grading increment which ensured parity between practitioners while maximising clinical precision.

Can Protanopia Be Correctly Diagnosed In Clinical Practice? An Evaluation Of Diagnosis By Four Screening Tests, Peter Davison, Grainne Scanlon

Articles

SIGNIFICANCE

Protanopia is a color vision deficiency (CVD) that is unacceptable for certain occupations. This study compares simultaneously for the first time the ability of three recently revised or developed clinical tests of color vision with the Ishihara test to diagnose protanopia from other color vision deficiencies.

PURPOSE

The objectives were to examine the ability of four clinical tests to differentiate (1) between protan and deutan CVDs in patients with protanopia and deuteranopia, and (2) protanopes and deuteranopes as “strong” deficiencies.

METHODS

The Hardy-Rand-Rittler (4th ed.), City University (3rd ed.), Ishihara, and Mollon-Reffin tests were evaluated against the Oculus Heidelberg …

Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Targets Irf7 Via Icp0 To Limit Type I Ifn Induction, David Shahnazaryan, Rana Khalil, Claire Wynne, Caroline A Jefferies, Joan Ní Gabhann-Dromgoole, Conor C Murphy

Articles

Herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV‑1) infection, is the commonest cause of infectious blindness in the developed world. Following infection the virus is initially suspended in the tear film, where it encounters a multi‑pronged immune response comprising enzymes, complement, immunoglobulins and crucially, a range of anti‑viral and pro‑inflammatory cytokines. However, given that HSV‑1 can overcome innate immune responses to establish lifelong latency throughout a susceptible individual’s lifetime, there is significant interest in understanding the mechanisms employed by HSV‑1 to downregulate the anti‑viral type I interferon (IFN) mediated immune responses. This study aimed to investigate …

Prevalence Of Colour Vision Deficiency In The Republic Of Ireland Schoolchildren And Associated Socio-Demographic Factors, Síofra Harrington, Peter Davison, Veronica O'Dwyer

Articles

Clinical relevance: Early screening is essential to counsel schoolchildren with congenital colour vision deficiency (CVD) in determining their future career path and to advise teachers of the impact of CVD on classroom difficulties.

Background: Congenital CVD is an X-linked genetic abnormality relatively commonplace in humans. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of congenital CVD in the Republic of Ireland schoolchildren and associated socio-demographic factors.

Methods: A total of 1,626 schoolchildren (882 boys and 744 girls), in two age groups (728 aged 6–7 years and 898 aged 12–13 years) were examined from randomly selected schools. Colour vision …

The Efficacy Of Warm Compresses In The Treatment Of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction And Demodex Folliculorum Blepharitis, Orla Murphy, Veronica O'Dwyer, Aoife Lloyd-Mckernan

Articles

Purpose: To investigate and compare the effect of warm compresses on meibomian gland dysfunction and Demodex folliculorum blepharitis.

Methods: Forty-two subjects (13 males, 29 females; mean age of 56.45 years) enrolled and completed the two-month warm compress treatment study. Three warm compress therapies were compared: Warm face cloth, MGDRx EyeBag® and OPTASETM Moist Heat Mask. Subjects attended for four visits: baseline, two weeks, four weeks, and eight weeks. Subjective symptoms, osmolarity, non-invasive tear break-up time, ocular surface staining, Schirmer I test, meibum expressibility and clarity, and eyelash manipulation and epilation to assess for the presence of Demodex folliculorum, …

Willingness To Pay For Improved Vision In Mozambique, Stephen Thompson, Kovin Naidoo, Carmen Gonzalez-Alvarez, Geoff Harris, James Loughman

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The burden of vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error (needing spectacles) in Mozambique is known to be significant. To improve the planning and provision of eye health services, a better understanding of how vision is valued by patients is needed. The willingness to pay (WTP) for improved vision through correcting refractive error was investigated in Nampula, Mozambique, using stated choice and bidding game methodologies. The mean WTP values were found to be 388.92 Meticals (US$13) for stated choice and 469.89 Meticals (US$16) for the bidding game. The mean WTP values for rural dwellers were found to be lower than …

Flash Vep In Clinically Stable Pre-Term And Full-Term Infants, Anish Kharal, Safal Khanal, Jyoti Baba Shrestha, Gauri Shankar Shrestha, Nabin Paudel

Articles

Purpose

Pre-term infants are at risk of abnormal visual development that can range from subtle to severe. The aim of this study was to compare flash VEPs in clinically stable pre-term and full-term infants at 6 months of age.

Methods

Twenty-five pre-term and 25 full-term infants underwent flash VEP testing at the age of 6 months. Monocular VEPs were recorded using flash goggles on a RETIscan system under normal sleeping conditions. Amplitude and peak time responses of the P2 component in the two eyes were averaged and compared between the two groups. Multiple regression analyses were performed to assess the …

Macular Pigment Optical Density Fluctuation As A Function Of Pupillary Mydriasis: Methodological Considerations For Dual-Wavelength Autofluorescence, Ekaterina Loskutova, John Butler, Gabriela Hernandez-Martinez, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Macular pigment (MP), comprising the dietary carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin, is believed to benefit eye health and vision. Numerous clinical and research devices and techniques are currently available to facilitate MP optical density (MPOD) measurement. One of those techniques, dual-wavelength fundus autofluorescence (AF) is being increasingly used for measurement of MP in the eye. There is substantial methodological variation across the published studies that have employed this technique, including in relation to the use of mydriasis, the possible influence of which does not appear to have been addressed in the literature. This prospective cross-sectional study was designed to investigate …