Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in people over 65 years old. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy is the first-line treatment for neovascular AMD (nAMD); however, fibrosis remains an unmet medical need due to the lack of effective medications. This study evaluated eight natural products from Celastrus orbiculatus, which has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effects, for their effects on the fibrotic pathological process as well as choroidal neovascularization (CNV). We investigated the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) values of these compounds on VEGF and alphasmooth muscle actin (α-SMA, a fibrosis marker) expression-induced by human acute monocytic cell (THP-1) conditioned media in retinal pigment epithelium cells (ARPE-19). Four compounds reduced both VEGF and α-SMA at 10 μM, with three—Celafolin A-1, COFH5645, and COFH543435—showing the highest potency. Intravitreal injections of the compound in a mouse model of CNV induced by laser photocoagulation confirmed its efficacy. Celafolin A-1 significantly reduced α-SMA and VEGF expression and decreased hyper-reflective lesions and CNV areas. Binding affinity measurements using biolayer interferometry identified an interaction between Celafolin A-1 and crystallin alpha B (Cryab), a protein involved in stress responses and fibrosis. Celafolin A-1 reduced the expression levels of Cryab as well as its phosphorylated form at Ser45, indicating that its mechanism involves the regulation of Cryab phosphorylation. Taken together, Celafolin A-1 exhibits dual inhibitory effects on VEGF and fibrosis, suggesting it as a candidate for the treatment of nAMD.

Oral antithrombotic therapy (antiplatelet therapy and anticoagulation therapy) is a key element of pharmacotherapy in patients with cardiovascular (CV) disease. Several reports of ethnic differences have suggested that there may be difference therapeutic requirements and response to therapy for antithrombotic therapy. In particular for East Asians, there seems to be a lower incidence of ischemic outcomes and a higher incidence of bleeding outcomes compared to Westerners. The purpose of this review is to describe the ethnicity-related differences in antithrombotic therapy for CV disease and to discuss the need to establish a more effective and targeted antithrombotic treatment strategy in East Asians.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness, cosmetic and functional improvement of a supracondylar lateral closing wedge osteotomy of the humerus as a treatment for cubitus varus deformity in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight children with cubitus varus underwent a lateral closing wedge osteotomy, and were followed up for at least 1 year. RESULTS: There were no complications such as a loss of correction, infection, or neurapraxia. The immediate postoperative lateral condylar prominence and secondary lazy S deformity was in proportion to the preoperative severity of the cubitus varus. However, it was lower at the last follow-up, and was related to the extent of preoperative cubitus varus, length of follow-up and age. CONCLUSION: A supracondylar lateral closing wedge osteotomy of humerus is an easy and effective surgical treatment for a posttraumatic cubitus varus of children. In addition, it shows good cosmetic results with good remodeling of the lateral condylar prominence of children.
Child ; Congenital Abnormalities ; Cosmetics ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Humerus ; Osteotomy