OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy between penetrating needling of three eye acupoints combined with sodium hyaluronate eye drops and sodium hyaluronate eye drops alone for the treatment of dry eye. METHODS: A total of 156 patients (312 eyes) with dry eye were randomly assigned to an observation group and a control group, with 78 patients (156 eyes) in each group. The control group was treated with sodium hyaluronate eye drops, one drop per eye, four times daily, for 4 weeks. In addition to the sodium hyaluronate treatment, the observation group received penetrating needling of three eye acupoints. Acupoints included bilateral Cuanzhu (BL2), Sizhukong (TE23), Sibai (ST2), and Jingming (BL1). Needling was performed once daily, four times a week, for 4 weeks. The subjective ocular symptom scores, neuropathic pain symptom inventory-eye (NPSI-Eye) scores, ocular surface disease index (OSDI) scores, corneal fluorescein staining (FL) scores, tear break-up time (BUT), SchirmerⅠtest (SⅠT), central tear meniscus height (TMH), and tear levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were evaluated before and after treatment in the two groups. Clinical efficacy was also compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, both groups showed significant improvements in subjective ocular symptom scores, NPSI-Eye scores, OSDI scores, FL scores, and reductions in tear IL-6 and TNF-α levels (P<0.01). Additionally, BUT, SⅠT, and TMH were increased significantly in both groups (P<0.01). After treatment, the subjective ocular symptom scores, NPSI-Eye score, OSDI score, FL score, and tear levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05), while BUT, SⅠT, and TMH were significantly improved compared to the control group (P<0.01). The markedly effective rate and total effective rate in the observation group were 83.3% (65/78) and 100.0% (78/78), respectively, which were higher than 52.6% (41/78, P<0.01) and 92.3% (72/78, P<0.05) in the control group. CONCLUSION The penetrating needling of three eye acupoints combined with sodium hyaluronate eye drops can effectively alleviate symptoms of dry eye, reduce inflammatory response, and has superior efficacy to sodium hyaluronate eye drops alone.
Humans ; Hyaluronic Acid/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Female ; Dry Eye Syndromes/genetics* ; Middle Aged ; Acupuncture Points ; Ophthalmic Solutions/administration & dosage* ; Adult ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Interleukin-6/genetics* ; Young Adult ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism*

Macrophages are the crucial immune cells integral to host defense and the regulation of homeostasis, exhibiting remarkable plasticity across various tissues. Upon exposure to different stimuli, they can polarize into functional subsets. The reorganization process of cellular metabolism, known as metabolic reprogramming, involves the comprehensive adjustment of intracellular metabolites, enzymes, and metabolic pathways. Recent studies have revealed the critical role of metabolic reprogramming in shaping the phenotypes and functions of macrophages. Metabolism drives and regulates macrophages by generating bioenergy and biosynthetic precursors and by altering metabolites that affect gene expression and signal transduction. This review focuses on the immunomodulatory roles of key enzymes and specific products in major metabolic pathways, such as glucose metabolism, lipid metabolism and amino acid metabolism, in macrophages. Additionally, it will highlight recent advancements in targeting metabolic regulation of macrophages in the context of ocular diseases.
Humans ; Macrophages/immunology* ; Animals ; Eye Diseases/immunology* ; Lipid Metabolism ; Glucose/metabolism* ; Metabolic Networks and Pathways ; Signal Transduction ; Metabolic Reprogramming

Very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (VLC-PUFAs) are unique fatty acids in tissues of mammals such as retina and testis, and the key enzyme of its biosynthesis is very long chain fatty acid elongase 4 (Elovl4). Development of an animal model of tissue-specific knockout of Elovl4 gene is conducive to the in-depth study of the biological function of VLC-PUFAs. Therefore, we constructed Stra8-Cre mice and Elovl4 floxed mice based on Cre/loxP system, and obtained the (Elovl4[flox/+], Stra8-Cre) heterozygous knockout mice by hybridization. Subsequently, female mice were selected to cross with male mice with homozygous Elovl4[flox/flox] to gain homozygous mice (Elovl4[flox/flox], Stra8-Cre) through genotype identification and screening. RT-PCR, qRT-PCR, Western blotting, immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence techniques were used to detect the knock-out efficiency of Elovl4 in testis. The expression of Elovl4 in testis of both heterozygous and homozygous knockout mice were significantly down-regulated at mRNA and protein levels, but were not affected in other tissues. In summary, we constructed a mouse model with specific knockout of Elovl4 gene in testis, which provides a reliable animal model for studying the effect of VLC-PUFAs on the reproductive function of male mice and the underpinning molecular mechanisms.
Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Eye Proteins/metabolism* ; Female ; Gene Knockout Techniques ; Integrases ; Male ; Mammals/metabolism* ; Membrane Proteins/metabolism* ; Mice ; Mice, Knockout ; Testis/metabolism*

The vegetative state is a complex condition with unclear mechanisms and limited diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic methods. In this study, we aimed to explore the proteomic profile of tears from patients in a traumatic vegetative state and identify potential diagnostic markers using tears-a body fluid that can be collected non-invasively. Using iTRAQ quantitative proteomic technology, in the discovery phase, tear samples collected from 16 patients in a traumatic vegetative state and 16 normal individuals were analyzed. Among 1080 identified tear proteins, 57 were upregulated and 15 were downregulated in the patients compared to the controls. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that the differentially-expressed proteins were mainly involved in the wound response and immune response signaling pathways. Furthermore, we verified the levels of 7 differentially-expressed proteins in tears from 50 traumatic vegetative state patients and 50 normal controls (including the samples used in the discovery phase) using ELISA. The results showed that this 7-protein panel had a high discrimination ability for traumatic vegetative state (area under the curve = 0.999). In summary, the altered tear proteomic profile identified in this study provides a basis for potential tear protein markers for diagnosis and prognosis of the traumatic vegetative state and also provides novel insights into the mechanisms of traumatic vegetative state.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eye Proteins ; metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Spectrometry ; Middle Aged ; Persistent Vegetative State ; metabolism ; Proteome ; Proteomics ; ROC Curve ; Tears ; metabolism ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDStevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are life-threatening diseases with high mortality rates. This study was designed to analyze the pathogenic factors, clinical manifestations, complications, treatment, and prognosis of SJS/TEN and to explore the differences between surviving and deceased patients.

METHODSSJS/TEN patients admitted to Beijing Friendship Hospital from January 2006 to December 2015 were included in the study. Patients' data were retrospectively analyzed. Comparative studies were performed on the survival group and the deceased group, and Fisher's exact probability test was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTSAmong the 88 patients included, 40 (45.5%) were male with a mean age of 45 ± 18 years. Forty-eight (54.5%) had SJS, 34 (38.6%) had SJS/TEN, and 6 (6.8%) had TEN. Fifty-three (60.2%) cases were caused by medications, mainly antibiotics (n = 24) followed by traditional Chinese medicines (n = 7). Forty-two cases (47.7%) developed visceral damage. Eighty-two patients improved or recovered and were discharged from hospital, and six patients died. Comparative studies on the survival group and the deceased group showed that the presence of malignant tumor ( χ2 = 27.969,P < 0.001), connective tissue diseases ( χ2 = 9.187, P= 0.002), previous abnormal liver/kidney functions ( χ2 = 6.006, P= 0.014), heart rate >100 times/min ( χ2 = 6.347, P= 0.012), detached skin area >20% ( χ2 = 5.594, P= 0.018), concurrent mucosal involvement at the mouth, eyes, and external genitals ( χ2 = 4.945, P= 0.026), subsequent accompanying liver/kidney damage ( χ2 = 11.839, P= 0.001, and χ2 = 36.302,P < 0.001, respectively), and SCORTEN score >2 ( χ2 = 37.148,P < 0.001) increased the risk of death.

CONCLUSIONSSJS/TEN is mainly caused by medications, and nearly half of patients develop visceral damage. Multiple factors increase the mortality risk.

Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Connective Tissue Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Eye ; pathology ; Female ; Genitalia ; pathology ; Humans ; Kidney ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mouth ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; metabolism ; pathology ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; pathology

PURPOSE: To investigate the properties of angiogenin (ANG) as a potential tool for the diagnosis and grading of dry eye syndrome (DES) by analyzing tear protein profiles. METHODS: Tear samples were collected with capillary tubes from 52 DES patients and 29 normal individuals as controls. Tear protein profiles were analyzed with an immunodot blot assay as a screening test. To confirm that the tear ANG levels were in inverse proportion to the disease severity grade, the ANG and lactoferrin (LF) tear contents of normal controls and DES patients were compared in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: In the immunodot blot assay, the ANG area was lower in patients with grades 3 and 4 DES than in normal controls. The areas of basic fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor β2, and interleukin 10 were significantly greater than those of normal controls only in grade 4 DES patients, but these proteins were not linearly correlated with dry eye severity. Upon enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis, the mean concentrations of ANG and LF decreased significantly as dry eye severity increased, except between grades 1 and 2. In addition, the ratios of ANG and LF to total tear proteins were correlated significantly with DES severity. CONCLUSIONS: ANG level was significantly lower in DES patients than in normal controls, and was significantly correlated with the worsening severity of DES, except between grades 1 and 2, as was LF. Therefore, ANG may be a useful measure of DES severity through proteomic analysis.
Adult ; Aged ; Angiogenesis Inducing Agents/pharmacology ; Dry Eye Syndromes/*diagnosis/metabolism ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Proteomics/methods ; Ribonuclease, Pancreatic/*pharmacology ; Severity of Illness Index ; Tears/chemistry ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVEIntravitreal (IVT) injection has become one of the most commonly performed ophthalmologic procedures. We investigated the changes in retinal function and proteomics in rabbits receiving IVT injection of PBS to evaluate the safety of IVT injection.

METHODSTwenty Chinchilla rabbits were subjected to IVT injection of 50 µL PBS in the right eyes. On days 0, 4, 7 and day 14, the retinas of the rabbits were isolated after routine ophthalmic and electroretinogram examinations. The protein expressions in the retinas were quantified using tandem mass tag (TMT)-labeling coupled with LC-MS/MS, and bioinformatic analysis of the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) was performed based on KEGG database to identify significantly enriched pathways. Functional network of the significant DEPs was analyzed using STRING.

RESULTSNo noticeable fundus or functional changes occurred in the rabbit eyes following IVT injection of PBS. A total of 6042 retinal proteins were identified in the retina following the injection, among which 49 proteins (0.81%) exhibited over 5.0-fold up-regulation or over 80% down- regulation relative to the control. Most of the distinctly up-regulated or down-regulated proteins were associated with the cytoskeleton. Significantly enriched pathways involved focal adhesion, tight junction, riboflavin metabolism, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction and regulation of actin cytoskeleton. Functional network analysis showed that ACTC1 and ISG15 played central roles in the protein interaction networks.

CONCLUSIONIVT PBS injection in rabbits causes alterations in proteins associated with cell adhesion, morphology, migration, differentiation, signal transduction and riboflavin metabolism, but the alterations of the retinal proteins appear not sufficient to cause observable pathology of the retina.

Animals ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Electroretinography ; Eye Proteins ; metabolism ; Intravitreal Injections ; Proteome ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; Rabbits ; Retina ; metabolism ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

No abstract available.
Aged ; Dacryocystorhinostomy/*methods ; Dry Eye Syndromes/metabolism/*surgery ; Eyelids/*surgery ; Humans ; Lacrimal Apparatus/secretion/*surgery ; Male ; Suture Techniques/*instrumentation ; Tears/*secretion

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; genetics ; COS Cells ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Cytoskeletal Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Eye Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glaucoma, Open-Angle ; genetics ; metabolism ; Glycoproteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Humans ; Mutation ; Ubiquinone ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo study the influence of Yanyankang powder on Th1/Th2 in rats with experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU).

METHODSThe EAU models were induced in Lewis rats by immunization with interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) 1177-1191 in complete Freund's adjuvant. The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: a model control group, a Yanyankang group, and a prednisone group, 9 rats in each group. The model control group was intervened with saline solution by gavage. The Yanyankang group was intervened with Yanyankang powder 4 g/(kg day) by gavage. The prednisone group were intervened with prednisone acetate tablets 5 mg/(kg d) by gavage. All groups were intervened after immunization once every 2 days for 18 days and monitored by slit-lamp biomicroscopy daily until day 18. The levels of gamma interferon (INF-γ) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in the supernatants of T cells were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology was used for measuring Th1 and Th2 related cytokine mRNA expressions.

RESULTSSlighter intraocular inflammation was found in the Yanyankang group and the prednisone group than the control group. The levels of the IFN-γ and IL-10 in the supernatants of the spleen lymph node cells were 382.33±6.30, 155.87±4.46 μg/L in the Yanyankang group and 270.93±7.76, 265.32±11.88 μg/L in the prednisone group. Both had significant differences compared with the control group (941.53±8.59, 20.67±4.65 μg/L; =0.01). The PCR results showed the same tendency.

CONCLUSIONYanyankang powder showed favorable effects in the rats with EAU by influencing the function of Th1 and Th2 cells.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Eye ; pathology ; Female ; Immunization ; Inflammation ; pathology ; Interferon-gamma ; genetics ; metabolism ; Interleukin-10 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Lymph Nodes ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Powders ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Rats, Inbred Lew ; Spleen ; metabolism ; Th1 Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Th2 Cells ; drug effects ; immunology ; Uveitis ; drug therapy ; genetics ; immunology