Optometry Commons^™

Comparison Of Efficacy And Inflammatory Response To Thermoconjunctivoplasty Performed With Cautery Or Pulsed 1460 Nm Laser, Rodrigo Guimaraes De Souza, David Huang, Scott Prahl, Lauren Nakhleh, Stephen C Pflugfelder

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Conjunctivochalasis is a degenerative condition of the conjunctiva that disrupts tear distribution and causes irritation. Thermoreduction of the redundant conjunctiva is required if symptoms are not relieved with medical therapy. Near-infrared laser treatment is a more controlled method to shrink the conjunctiva than thermocautery. This study compared tissue shrinkage, histology, and postoperative inflammation in thermoconjunctivoplasty performed on the mouse conjunctiva using either thermocautery or pulsed 1460 nm near-infrared laser irradiation. Three sets of experiments were performed on female C57BL/6J mice (

Direct Costs Of Second Aqueous Shunt Implant Versus Transscleral Cyclophotocoagulation (The Assists Trial), Jack X Ma, Alice Z Chuang, Robert M Feldman, Steve L Mansberger, Angelo P Tanna, Lauren S Blieden, Daniel Shoham, Nicholas P Bell, Ronald L Gross, Louis R Pasquale, David S Greenfield, Jeffrey M Liebmann, Robert N Weinreb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PRCIS: The cost of cyclophotocoagulation is less than the cost of a second glaucoma drainage device.

PURPOSE: To compare the total direct costs of implantation of a second glaucoma drainage device (SGDD) with transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (CPC) for patients with inadequately controlled intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction, despite the presence of a preexisting glaucoma drainage device in the ASSISTS clinical trial.

METHODS: We compared the total direct cost per patient, including the initial study procedure, medications, additional procedures, and clinic visits during the study period. The relative costs for each procedure during the 90-day global period and the entire study period were …

Ectopic Lymphoid Structures In The Aged Lacrimal Glands, Jeremias G Galletti, Kaitlin K Scholand, Claudia M Trujillo-Vargas, Zhiyuan Yu, Olivier Mauduit, Vanessa Delcroix, Helen P Makarenkova, Cintia S De Paiva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Aging is a complex biological process in which many organs are pathologically affected. We previously reported that aged C57BL/6J had increased lacrimal gland (LG) lymphoid infiltrates that suggest ectopic lymphoid structures. However, these ectopic lymphoid structures have not been fully investigated. Using C57BL/6J mice of different ages, we analyzed the transcriptome of aged murine LGs and characterized the B and T cell populations. Age-related changes in the LG include increased differentially expressed genes associated with B and T cell activation, germinal center formation, and infiltration by marginal zone-like B cells. We also identified an age-related increase in B1

The Association Between Time Spent On Screens And Reading With Myopia, Premyopia And Ocular Biometric And Anthropometric Measures In 6- To 7-Year-Old Schoolchildren In Ireland, Síofra Harrington, Veronica O'Dwyer

Articles

Purpose More time spent on near tasks has consistently been associated with the promotion of myopia. The World Health Organization advises limiting daily screentime to less than 2 h for children aged five and over. This study explored the relationship between time spent on screens and reading/writing with refractive status, ocular biometric and anthropometric factors in 6-to 7-year- olds in Ireland.

Methods Participants were 723 schoolchildren (377 boys [51.8%]), mean age 7.08 (0.45) years. The examination included cycloplegic autorefraction (1% cyclopentolate hydrochloride), ocular biometry (Zeiss IOLMaster), height (cm) and weight (kg). Screentime and reading/writing time were reported by parents/legal guardians …

Lacrimal Gland Epithelial Cells Shape Immune Responses Through The Modulation Of Inflammasomes And Lipid Metabolism, Vanessa Delcroix, Olivier Mauduit, Menglu Yang, Amrita Srivastava, Takeshi Umazume, Cintia S De Paiva, Valery I Shestopalov, Darlene A Dartt, Helen P Makarenkova

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Lacrimal gland inflammation triggers dry eye disease through impaired tear secretion by the epithelium. As aberrant inflammasome activation occurs in autoimmune disorders including Sjögren's syndrome, we analyzed the inflammasome pathway during acute and chronic inflammation and investigated its potential regulators. Bacterial infection was mimicked by the intraglandular injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and nigericin, known to activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. Acute injury of the lacrimal gland was induced by interleukin (IL)-1α injection. Chronic inflammation was studied using two Sjögren's syndrome models: diseased

Vitamin C Contributes To Epigenetic Regulation Of Genes Related To Diabetic Retinopathy In Retinal Endothelial Cells, Elizabeth L. Turner, Jonathon Reynolds, Walker Kay, Marianne Becnel, Matthew Conway, Alexander Kim, John A. Kriak, Kyle B. Bills, David W. Sant

Annual Research Symposium

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Cycloplegia At 20- And 30-Minutes Following Proxymetacaine And Cyclopentolate Instillation In White 12-13-Year-Olds, Megan Doyle, Veronica O'Dwyer, Siofra Harrington

Articles

Clinical Relevance

Reducing the time between drop instillation and refraction reduces the time paediatric patients and young adults spend in practice, facilitating more eye examinations daily.

Background

The current procedure for paediatric cycloplegic refraction is to wait for at least 30-minutes post-instillation of a cycloplegic before measuring spherical equivalent refraction. This study compared cycloplegia at 20- and 30-minutes following 0.5% proxymetacaine and 1.0% cyclopentolate in 12-13-year-olds.

Methods

Participants were 99 white 12-13-year-olds. One drop of proxymetacaine hydrochloride (Minims, 0.5% w/v, Bausch & Lomb, UK) followed by one drop of cyclopentolate hydrochloride (Minims, 1.0% w/v, Bausch & Lomb, UK) was instilled …

Alternative Polyadenylation Transcriptome-Wide Association Study Identifies Apa-Linked Susceptibility Genes In Brain Disorders, Ya Cui, Frederick J Arnold, Fanglue Peng, Dan Wang, Jason Sheng Li, Sebastian Michels, Eric J Wagner, Albert R La Spada, Wei Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) plays an essential role in brain development; however, current transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) largely overlook APA in nominating susceptibility genes. Here, we performed a 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) APA TWAS (3'aTWAS) for 11 brain disorders by combining their genome-wide association studies data with 17,300 RNA-seq samples across 2,937 individuals. We identified 354 3'aTWAS-significant genes, including known APA-linked risk genes, such as SNCA in Parkinson's disease. Among these 354 genes, ~57% are not significant in traditional expression- and splicing-TWAS studies, since APA may regulate the translation, localization and protein-protein interaction of the target genes independent of mRNA level …

Long-Term Effects Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea And Its Treatment On Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Big-Data Cohort Study, Tae-Eun Lee, Jong Seung Kim, Sang Woo Yeom, Min Gyu Lee, Jong Hwan Lee, Haeng-Jin Lee

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The relationship between open-angle glaucoma (OAG) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is unclear. The long-term risk for OAG after OSA diagnosis has not been investigated. Therefore, we assessed the risk for OAG among patients with OSA over a 12-year follow-up period using nationwide, population-based data.

METHODS: The OSA group was randomly selected from among 3.5 million individuals registered with the National Health Insurance Service. The non-OSA group was obtained through propensity score matching considering several variables. The primary endpoint was glaucoma diagnosis.

RESULTS: The OSA and non-OSA groups both included 6,369 individuals. The overall hazard ratio for OAG …

Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Wound Repair: Evidence For Paracrine Signaling From Corneal Epithelial Cells To Fibroblasts And Immune Cells Following Transient Epithelial Cell Treatment With Mitomycin C, Sonali Pal-Ghosh, Beverly A Karpinski, Himani Datta Majumdar, Trisha Ghosh, Julie Thomasian, Stephen R Brooks, Andrew P Sawaya, Maria I Morasso, Kaitlin K Scholand, Cintia S De Paiva, Jeremias G Galletti, Mary Ann Stepp

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

In this paper, we use RNAseq to identify senescence and phagocytosis as key factors to understanding how mitomyin C (MMC) stimulates regenerative wound repair. We use conditioned media (CM) from untreated (CMC) and MMC treated (CMM) human and mouse corneal epithelial cells to show that corneal epithelial cells indirectly exposed to MMC secrete elevated levels of immunomodulatory proteins including IL-1α and TGFβ1 compared to cells exposed to CMC. These factors increase epithelial and macrophage phagocytosis and promote ECM turnover. IL-1α supplementation can increase phagocytosis in control epithelial cells and attenuate TGFβ1 induced αSMA expression by corneal fibroblasts. Yet, we show …

Fluorescence Angiography With Dual Fluorescence For The Early Detection And Longitudinal Quantitation Of Vascular Leakage In Retinopathy, Benjamin Pomeroy, Alexander W Venanzi, Wei Li, Abigail S Hackam, Midhat H Abdulreda

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) afflicts more than 93 million people worldwide and is a leading cause of vision loss in working adults. While DR therapies are available, early DR development may go undetected without treatment due to the lack of sufficiently sensitive tools. Therefore, early detection is critically important to enable efficient treatment before progression to vision-threatening complications. A major clinical manifestation of early DR is retinal vascular leakage that may progress from diffuse to more localized focal leakage, leading to increased retinal thickness and diabetic macular edema (DME). In preclinical research, a hallmark of DR in mouse models is …

Prescribing Patterns Of Myopia Control Contact Lenses Among Optometrists In Ireland, Michael Moore, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Purpose

This retrospective analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) data investigated the prescribing patterns of soft myopia control contact lens (MCCL) treatments since their introduction in Ireland in 2017.

Methods

Anonymised EMR data were sourced from 33 optometry practices in Ireland from 2017 to 2021 to determine the number of practices prescribing MCCLs to myopic children 5–18 years old. In MCCL-prescribing practices, the proportion of contact lens wearing children fitted with MCCLs and the proportion of progressive (≤−0.25 D/year) myopic children fitted with MCCLs were determined. Logistic regression was used to determine which factors influenced the likelihood of being prescribed …

Importance Of Eye Exams As A Secondary Preventative Measure For Diabetic Retinopathy: Winning The War On Blindness, Alondra S. Arredondo, Olivia Demeyer, Rachel Louise Pfenning-Wendt, Samuel Wolfe

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite current efforts by medical professionals to reduce the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy (DR), a microvascular complication of uncontrolled diabetes, this noncommunicable disease remains the leading cause of preventable vision loss worldwide (Cheloni et al., 2019). Research estimates 90% of DR cases could be prevented if detected early through routine eye exams, yet certain social determinants of health still remain a significant barrier for many individuals to receive this care. According to Wong & Sabanayagam (2020), only 25% of DM patients in developing countries receive routine care with adequate eye screenings. The goal of this community service project was to …

The Future Of Clinical Trials Of Myopia Control, Mark A. Bullimore, Noel A. Brennan, Daniel I. Flintcroft

Articles

In the field of myopia control, effective optical or pharmaceutical therapies are now available to patients in many markets. This creates challenges for the conduct of placebo-controlled, randomised clinical trials, including ethics, recruitment, retention, selective loss of faster progressors and non-protocol treatments: 1. Ethics: It is valid to question whether withholding treatment in control subjects is ethical. 2. Recruitment: Availability of treatments is making recruitment into clinical trials more difficult. 3. Retention: If masking is not possible, parents may immediately withdraw their child if randomised to no treatment. 4. Selective loss: Withdrawal of fast progressors in the control group leading …

Imi—Management And Investigation Of High Myopia In Infants And Young Children, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, John Ainsworth, Audrey Chia, Susan Cotter, Elise Harb, Zi-Bing Jin, Caroline C. W. Klaver, Anthony T. Moore, Ken K. Nischal, Kyoko Ohno-Matsui, Evelyn A. Paysse, Michael X. Repka, Irina Y. Smirnova, Martin Snead, Virginie J. M. Verhoeven, Pavan K. Verkicharla

Articles

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the epidemiology, etiology, clinical assessment, investigation, management, and visual consequences of high myopia (≤−6 diopters [D]) in infants and young children.

Imi—Nonpathological Human Ocular Tissue Changes With Axial Myopia, Jost B. Jonus, Richard F. Spaide, Lisa A. Ostrin, Nicola S. Logan, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Songhomitra Panda-Jonas

Articles

In axial myopia, the eye changes from a spherical shape to a prolate ellipsoid, photoreceptor, and retinal pigment epithelium cell density and total retinal thickness decrease, most marked in the retroequatorial region, followed by the equator. The choroid and sclera are thin, most markedly at the posterior pole and least markedly at the ora serrata. The sclera undergoes alterations in fibroblast activity, changes in extracellular matrix content, and remodeling. Bruch’s membrane (BM) thickness is unrelated to axial length, although the BM volume increases. In moderate myopia, the BM opening shifts, usually toward the fovea, leading to the BM overhanging into …

Imi 2023 Digest, Padmaja Sankaridurg, David A. Berntsen, Mark A. Bullimore, Pauline Cho, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, Timothy J. Gawne, Kate Gifford, Monica Jong, Lisa A. Ostrin Lisa A. Ostrin, Jacinto Santodomingo-Rubido, Christine Wildsoet, James S. Wolffsohn

Articles

Myopia is a dynamic and rapidly moving field, with ongoing research providing a better understanding of the etiology leading to novel myopia control strategies. In 2019, the International Myopia Institute (IMI) assembled and published a series of white papers across relevant topics and updated the evidence with a digest in 2021. Here, we summarize findings across key topics from the previous 2 years. Studies in animal models have continued to explore how wavelength and intensity of light influence eye growth and have examined new pharmacologic agents and scleral cross-linking as potential strategies for slowing myopia. In children, the term premyopia …

Eyecare Practitioner Reluctance To Fit Children With Contact Lenses, Claire E. Mcdonnell

Conference Papers

Purpose: Myopia control strategies in the form of contact lenses and spectacles have been commercially available to eyecare practitioners in the Republic of Ireland (RoI) since 2017 and 2021 respectively. The aim of this research was to determine the level of adoption of these strategies among independent eyecare practitioners in the RoI.

Methods: In order to establish the number of practices offering myopia control contact lenses, examination of independent practices’ websites was made to see whether or not they mentioned myopia control. Phone calls were made to practices identified in this way, to ascertain if they were actually offering myopia …

Myopia Outcome Study Of Atropine In Children: Two-Year Result Of Daily 0.01% Atropine In A European Population, James Loughman, Emmanuel Kobia-Acquah, Gareth Lingham, John Butler, Ekaterina Loskutova, David A. Mackey, Samantha S.Y. Lee, Daniel I. Flintcroft

Articles

The Myopia Outcome Study of Atropine in Children (MOSAIC) is an investigator-led, double-masked, randomized controlled trial investigating the efficacy and safety of 0.01% atropine eye drops for managing myopia progression in a predominantly White, European population.

Differential Mechanisms Of Intestinal Inflammation Drive Pathogenesis Of Diabetic Retinopathy In Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes, Jason Levi Floyd

All ETDs from UAB

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes and, along with diabetic macular edema (DME), accounts for the greatest source of vision-threatening eye disease in the working-age community. DR is caused by weakening of the retinal vasculature, the blood-retinal barrier (BRB), by high levels of blood glucose (hyperglycemia), exacerbations of oxidative stress, and systemic inflammatory factors. Many of these inflammatory factors are metabolic by-products and cell membrane constituents of the gut microbiota, the resident community of microbial species which inhabit the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. These factors are collectively termed gut microbial antigens (GMAs). In diabetes, …

High Energy Blue Light Induces Oxidative Stress And Retinal Cell Apoptosis, Jessica Malinsky

Capstone Showcase

Blue light (BL) is a high energy, short wavelength spanning 400 to 500 nm. Found in technological and environmental forms, BL has been shown to induce photochemical damage of the retina by reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Excess ROS leads to oxidative stress, which disrupts retinal mitochondrial structure and function. As mitochondria amply occupy photoreceptors, they also contribute to oxidative stress due to their selectively significant absorption of BL at 400 to 500 nm. ROS generation that induces oxidative stress subsequently promotes retinal mitochondrial apoptosis. BL filtering and preventative mechanisms have been suggested to improve or repair BL-induced retinal damage, …

Examining The Effects Of Hyperglycemia On Retinal Regeneration, Emmanuella Ec Kyllians

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Diabetes is a disease that affects how the body processes glucose, leading to a cascade of other complications, one of which is diabetic retinopathy (DR). DR is a neurovascular disease that affects the retina and research has revealed the role of retinal neurodegeneration in its development. Animal models like zebrafish have emerged as important tools for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying DR. On the other hand, retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a degenerative disease that involves the progressive degeneration of rods and cones, and hyperglycemia has been found to impair regeneration. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effects …

Corneal Sensitivity In Normal Subjects As Measured Using The Cochet-Bonnet Aesthesiometer, Claire E. Mcdonnell, Clara Boland, Kayinat Khalid, Muno Osman

Conference Papers

Aim: The aims of this research were; to establish a range of values for corneal sensitivity in normal subjects as measured using the Cochet-Bonnet aesthesiometer; to determine if the measurement of corneal sensitivity in one eye affected subsequent measurements in the fellow eye; and to determine if there is a difference in corneal sensitivity between fellow eyes.

Methods: Thirty four subjects aged between 18 and 30 who did not wear contact lenses had their central corneal sensitivity measured in both eyes. The average of three readings was taken as the measurement for each eye. In 15 subjects, measurement was taken …

Differential Recruitment Of Bone Marrow-Derived Cells Into The Injured Retina, Bright Asare-Bediako

All ETDs from UAB

The hematopoietic system, which resides in the bone marrow in adults, maintains the constant turnover of blood cells in the circulatory system and supplies inflammatory/vascular reparative cells to the retina. Chronic metabolic diseases disrupt hematopoietic homeostasis, suppressing the generation of bone marrow-derived reparative cells in favor of pro-inflammatory cells. While much research has been done on development and disease-associated changes in hematopoiesis in the long bones and how mobilization to the retina is affected, the calvarium's hematopoiesis is underexplored. This dissertation investigated hematopoiesis in postnatal development and in disease, comparing calvarium hematopoiesis to that of long bones. The findings showed …

Perceptions Of Comfort And Vison In Center Distance Multifocal Contact Lenses In Non-Presbyopic Adults, D'Ajanee Smallwood

All ETDs from UAB

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the subjective performance of four different multifocal contact lenses (MFCLs) amongst a population of adults excluding presbyopes. Methods: Forty-three subjects were fit with up to four different lenses (Biofinity “D” MFCL, NaturalVue MFCL, MiSight 1 Day contact lens, & Intelliwave MFCL). Information about vision and comfort were gathered using subjective assessments. Pupil size data were gathered as secondary outcome measurements. Results: There were no significant differences in ghosting, haloes, and visual clarity between larger and smaller pupils. All MFCLs had reduced overall visual clarity compared to habitual correction except for Biofinity. …

Neural-Glial-Vascular Interactions In Human Outer Retina, Deepayan Kar

All ETDs from UAB

The outer retinal metabolic ecosystem is a complex interplay among photoreceptors, RPE and blood supply from the retinal and choroidal microcirculation. Breakdown of any component of this ecosystem has detrimental effects and can lead to cellular dysfunction. For example, in age-related macular degeneration a major cause of vision loss in older adults, breakdown of this metabolic unit has severe structural and functional implications. Thus, every feature and component of this ecosystem seems to be optimized to protect non-replicating, terminally differentiated cells from being damaged. Remarkably, much of the cellular and subcellular organization of this system is available for observation in …

Towards Minimally Invasive Genetically Targeted Control Of Neural Activity Using X-Rays, Kelli Cannon

All ETDs from UAB

X-genetics aims to replace visible light stimulation in optogenetics with X-radiation, offering improved bone penetration, minimal scattering, and enhanced targeting capabilities. This eliminates the need for surgical optic fiber implantation, reducing invasiveness and minimizing off-target effects. Discovering a receptor protein sensitive to X-rays or their byproducts is pivotal for advancing X-genetics.Two genetically encoded X-ray receptors (GEXRs) were investigated for X-genetics application: rhodopsin, historically associated with X-ray responses, and LITE-1, an unexpected candidate. Rhodopsin, when expressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells, demonstrated robust cAMP decreases upon visible light stimulation but remained unresponsive to moderate and high-dose X-rays, suggesting it may …

Chatgpt: Is It Good For Our Glaucoma Patients?, Gloria Wu, David A Lee, Weichen Zhao, Adrial Wong, Sahej Sidhu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Our study investigates ChatGPT and its ability to communicate with glaucoma patients.

Methods: We inputted eight glaucoma-related questions/topics found on the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)'s website into ChatGPT. We used the Flesch-Kincaid test, Gunning Fog Index, SMOG Index, and Dale-Chall readability formula to evaluate the comprehensibility of its responses for patients. ChatGPT's answers were compared with those found on the AAO's website.

Results: ChatGPT's responses required reading comprehension of a higher grade level (average = grade 12.5 ± 1.6) than that of the text on the AAO's website (average = 9.4 grade ± 3.5), (0.0384). For the eight …

Dye Coupling Of Horizontal Cells In The Primate Retina, Feng Pan, Stephen C Massey

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In the monkey retina, there are two distinct types of axon-bearing horizontal cells, known as H1 and H2 horizontal cells (HCs). In this study, cell bodies were prelabled using 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI), and both H1 and H2 horizontal cells were filled with Neurobiotin™ to reveal their coupling, cellular details, and photoreceptor contacts. The confocal analysis of H1 and H2 HCs was used to assess the colocalization of terminal dendrites with glutamate receptors at cone pedicles. After filling H1 somas, a large coupled mosaic of H1 cells was labeled. The dendritic terminals of H1 cells contacted red/green cone pedicles, with the occasional …

Retinal Alpha-Synuclein Accumulation Correlates With Retinal Dysfunction And Structural Thinning In The A53t Mouse Model Of Parkinson’S Disease, Katie K N Tran, Vickie H Y Wong, Anh Hoang, David I Finkelstein, Bang V Bui, Christine T O Nguyen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Abnormal alpha-synuclein (α-SYN) protein deposition has long been recognized as one of the pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease's (PD). This study considers the potential utility of PD retinal biomarkers by investigating retinal changes in a well characterized PD model of α-SYN overexpression and how these correspond to the presence of retinal α-SYN. Transgenic A53T homozygous (HOM) mice overexpressing human α-SYN and wildtype (WT) control littermates were assessed at 4, 6, and 14  months of age (male and female,