[The effects of posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation on accommodative function in high myopia].

Objective: To investigate the effects of implantable Collamer lens (ICL) with a central hole on the accommodative function of patients with high myopia at different ages after implantation. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 75 patients (150 eyes, 23 men and 52 women) with high myopia who underwent ICL implantation in Department of Ophthalmology of First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January 2017 to December 2018. The age was (28.99±7.26) years (range, 18-48 years). Forty patients (80 eyes) aged 18-34 years were included in the younger group and 35 patients (70 eyes) aged 35-48 years were included in the elderly group. To compare the changes and differences of accommodative function between the two groups, the uncorrected visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent error, amplitude of accommodation (AMP), negative relative accommodation (NRA), positive relative accommodation, single and both eyes' accommodation of facility (AF), fused cross cylinder, near and far distance horizontal phoria, accommodative convergence/accommodation and visual satisfaction questionnaire before surgery and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery were analyzed. ANOVA for repeated design, LSD, unpaired sample t-test, Paired t-test, Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were used for data analyses. Results: At each time point before and after operation, there were significant differences between the two groups in the AMP (F=16.511, P<0.05). The AMP of the younger group increased from (8.88±2.27) D at baseline to (9.51±1.34) D at 12 months, while it was decreased in the elderly group from (7.67±2.36) D at baseline to (6.56±2.63) D at 12 months. The trend of changes was significantly different (F=15.044,P<0.05). The AMP of the elderly group was significantly lower than that of the younger group at all time points (F=47.678, P<0.05). The NRA of the younger group was better than that of the elderly group (F=13.459, P<0.05), but the NRA had no significant changes in both groups postoperatively (F=1.788, P=0.141). We could not find any significant changes of positive relative accommodation between two groups (F=1.447, P=0.233). The monocular and binocular AF of two groups was increased significantly after surgery (F=34.296, 21.839, P<0.05). The AF of the younger group was better than that of the elderly group (F=80.327, 43.08, P<0.05). The fused cross cylinder was improved from baseline (0.12±0.32) D to (0.38±0.49) D at 12 months (F=4.752, P<0.05), while the difference was not found in the younger group (F=2.110, P=0.151). We could not find any significant changes of accommodative convergence/accommodation between two groups (F=0.389, P=0.505) or in each group (F=1.049, P=0.309) preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. Conclusions: ICL implantation is effective in the treatment of high myopia. The visual acuity, AMP, monocular and binocular AF may increase obviously. Big improvements in the accommodative function and high satisfaction of vision can be achieved, especially in younger patients. (Chin J Ophthalmol, 2021, 57: 113-121).

Role of spinal cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E2 in fentanyl-induced hyperalgesia in rats.

BACKGROUND: Accumulated evidence suggests that spinal cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) may be implicated in the development of opioid-induced hyperalgesia. METHODS: Rats received subcutaneous fentanyl injections at different doses (20-80 µg kg-1), four separate times at 15-min intervals. Some rats only received fentanyl (60 µg kg-1 × 4 doses) with or without surgical incision. Fentanyl-induced hyperalgesia was evaluated via a tail-pressure or paw-withdrawal test. The concentrations of spinal COX-2, EP-1 receptor (EP-1R) mRNA, and PGE2 were measured. The effects of the COX-2 inhibitor, parecoxib (intraperitoneal 10 mg kg-1), or the EP-1R antagonist, SC51089 (intraperitoneal 100 µg kg-1), on hyperalgesia and spinal PGE2 were examined. RESULTS: Acute repeated injections of fentanyl dose-dependently induced mechanical hyperalgesia, which reached a peak at the 1st day and persisted for 1-4 days postinjection. This hyperalgesia could be partly or totally prevented by the pretreatment of either parecoxib or SC51089. Consistently, the levels of spinal COX-2 mRNA and PGE2 were also dose-dependently increased, reaching a peak at the first day and persisting for 2 days postinjection. Pretreatment with parecoxib could block the increase in spinal PGE2 and had no effects on spinal COX-2 and EP-1R mRNA. Fentanyl injection enhanced incision-induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. CONCLUSIONS: Acute repeated fentanyl administration dose-dependently produced mechanical hyperalgesia and augmented surgery induced postoperative hyperalgesia. This behavioural change was paralleled with an increase in spinal COX-2 mRNA and PGE2 after fentanyl administration. Inhibition of COX-2 or blockade of EP-1R can partly or totally prevent hyperalgesia.

Functional characterization and analysis of the Arabidopsis UGT71C5 promoter region.

In the present study, we isolated an Arabidopsis promoter, UGT71C5, and analyzed its role in the regulation of the light response mechanism. We constructed a fusion vector pBI121-pU-GUS by integrating the UGT71C5 promoter upstream of the GUS reporter gene in pBI121, and then transferred this vector into Arabidopsis plants. The GUS activity of the transgenic plants was detected using a spectrophotometer under normal growth conditions as well as under light, drought, and ABA stress-treatments. The obtained results indicated that the GUS activity of transgenic plants ranged in between the activities observed in wild-type and 35S transgenic plants, which were used as positive control. Light stress for 8 and 12 h increased the GUS activity in transgenic plants by 3 and 4 times, respectively, compared to the activity in these plants under normal conditions. No such change in the GUS activity was observed under drought and ABA-treated conditions. This suggests that the UGT71C5 promoter is light inducible. Our study provides helpful insights into the elucidation of inducible promoters in Arabidopsis and the molecular mechanisms of light response.

Effects of destrin pathway mutations on the gene expression profile.

This study aimed to explore the interaction and crosstalk between pathways in response to destrin mutations. All the pathways from the MINT database were downloaded, a protein-protein interaction network was then constructed, and the crosstalk between pathways was investigated, in particular, the overlap of 2 significant pathway analysis results. As expected, the results showed that regulation of the actin cytoskeleton was the significant pathway of destrin mutations in mice. Further analysis indicated that 28 significant pathways cross-talked with the pathway regulating the actin cytoskeleton. Importantly, 3 pathways, including regulation of actin cytoskeleton pathway, pathways in cancer, and the B cell receptor signaling pathway were linked by inositol phosphate metabolism based on crosstalk analysis of Gene Ontology relationships among pathways. All of these pathways have been demonstrated to participate in cytoskeleton dynamics. These findings might provide valuable insights into cytoskeleton dynamic abnormalities in destrin mutations of corneal diseases.

Histopathology, immunohistochemistry, in situ apoptosis, and ultrastructure characterization of the digestive and lymphoid organs of new type gosling viral enteritis virus experimentally infected gosling.

Here, for the first time, to colocalize new type gosling viral enteritis virus (NGVEV) with histological lesions and in situ apoptosis in the digestive organs (esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine, cecum, rectum, liver, and pancreas) and the lymphoid organs (bursa of Fabricius, thymus, Harderian gland, and spleen) of experimentally infected goslings, portions of tissues were collected at sequential infection time points and examined by histopathology for histological lesions, immunohistochemical staining for viral antigens, ultrastructural observation by transmission electron microscope (TEM) for virus particles and apoptotic cells, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling assay for in situ apoptosis. The hyperemia, hemorrhage, infiltration of lymphocytes, progressive lymphoid depletion, apoptosis, and necrosis were readily observed in the lymphoid organs and intestine tract by histopathological examination. The NGVEV particles and viral antigens widely appeared in the small intestine and bursa of Fabricius as early as 2 d postinfection (PI) by TEM and immunohistochemical staining, and the presence and quantity of it reached a maximum during 6 to 12 d PI. The principal sites for NGVEV were endothelial cells, epithelia, mucosal cells, glandular cells, fibrocytes, macrophages, and lymphocytes. A series of apoptotic morphological changes including chromatin condensation and margination, cytoplasmic shrinkage, and formation of apoptotic body were observed by TEM, and the number of apoptotic cells was largely increased from 4 d PI and peaked at 9 d PI by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling analysis. The histological organ lesions and apoptosis in vivo were generally associated with sites of NGVEV localization, which can be regarded as the cause of death. This work may shed light on the pathogenesis of new type gosling viral enteritis and put new insight into the pathogenesis of goose adenovirus.

A chimera antibody erythroimmunoassay for detecting HBsAg in human sera.

A highly efficient chimera antibody, a monoclonal anti-hepatitis-B-surface (anti-HBs) antibody coupled with polyclonal anti-sheep-red-blood-cell (anti-SRBC) antibody was prepared using a heterobifunctional reagent, N-succinimidyl-3-(2-pyridyldithiopropionate) (SPDP). Using SRBC as a marker, we established a sensitive solid-phase chimera antibody erythroimmunoassay (CAEIA) according to Guesdon's method. The sensitivity of this assay was 2-20 times higher than the reverse passive haemagglutination assay (RPHA) for detecting HBsAg in serially diluted sera from 10 hepatitis B patients. The weakest quantity of HBsAg detected by this assay was 4.5 ng/ml, while RPHA was unable to detect less than 75 ng/ml of HBsAg. The assay was as sensitive as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and gave more accurate, reproducible and stable results than ELISA; specificity was also satisfactory.