Establishing an accurate and sensitive in vitro drug screening system for human adenovirus infection with human corneal cells.

Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) is a hazardous and highly contagious disease, with the potential to cause epidemic outbreaks in hospitals and other community settings. There are currently no approved drugs for human adenovirus (HAdV), the causative agent of EKC. To establish a novel drug screening system for ocular HAdV infections, we employed CRL11516, a non-cancerous but immortalized human corneal epithelial cell line. Brincidoforvir and 3'-deoxy-3'-fluorothymidine inhibit replication of HAdV species C type 1 (C1), C2, E4, and C6 to the same extent. This alternative assay system may allow for the evaluation of anti-HAdV activity and cell cytotoxicity of compounds within 2 days and without the need of the rabbit eye infection model.

[Demodex and ocular surface disease]. / Demodex et pathologies de la surface oculaire.

Demodex is a saprophytic mite of the ocular adnexa, which can in certain circumstances proliferate on the skin of the face and on the eyelid margins. It is involved in facial rosacea (especially in the papulopustular form) and in the development or aggravation of anterior and/or posterior blepharitis or even keratoconjunctivitis, often in association with cutaneous lesions ; the pathophysiology is often multifactorial. Symptoms are non-specific, but the presence of cylindrical sleeves on the eyelashes is very suggestive of infestation, and certain techniques of biomicroscopic examination or imaging, such as confocal microscopy in vivo, allow direct visualization of the parasite. Parasitological examination of the eyelashes can confirm the diagnosis and can be improved by good sampling technique. Eyelid hygiene and oil-based ointments are the cornerstone of treatment. New specific treatments, in particular topical treatments based on tea tree oil, ivermectin, as well as pulsed light therapy and micro-exfoliation of the eyelid margin, can help to reduce the parasitic load and improve symptoms.

The blight of pollution keratoconjunctivitis among children in oil-producing industrial areas of Delta State, Nigeria.

The rapid urbanization and industrialization of Warri and environs between 1968 and 1990 have some adverse consequences due to accumulation of diverse categories of pollutants from drilling, production, and refining of crude oil and production of petrochemicals, especially black carbon. Persistent itching, foreign body sensation, and specified areas of conjunctival/limbal discoloration were used as markers for pollution keratoconjunctivitis (PKC). Children attending eye clinics in Delta State government hospitals located at Warri, Ekpan, and Aladja were sampled. Warri and Ekpan, both oil-producing areas, were used as the experimental group. Aladja, also within the same location but a nonoil-producing area (steel industries), was used as the control. The levels of black carbon and tetraethyl lead (TEL) were measured in the tear film of 100 children selected by a simple random technique from each location. Biochemical assays showed that the tear samples contained some levels of TEL among the sample population, and the TEL content was 0.01 microg/mL for all the tear samples. Stereomicroscopy gave the following estimated values of black carbon content washed off the external adnexia of the sample population: Ekpan 2%/mL, Warri 1.5%/mL, and Aladja 0.6%/mL. The results also show that occurrence of the three major clinical signs and symptoms of PKC (persistent itching, foreign body sensation, specified limbal/conjunctival discoloration, respectively) were as follow: Ekpan, 79, 68, and 65%; Warri, 55, 53, and 50%; Aladja, 26, 22, and 16%. This indicates that higher particulate concentrations of black carbon correlated with increased prevalence of the markers for manifestation of PKC. This implies that the markers for PKC in this experiment are more pronounced in oil-producing areas.

Crowding and winter emergency feeding as predisposing factors for kerato-conjunctivitis in semi-domesticated reindeer in Norway.

Due to the hard environmental and climatic situation in late winter 1999, a herd of about 200 free-ranging, semi-domesticated reindeer was gathered in a paddock in northern Norway for emergency feeding. About the same number of reindeer was not corralled but supplementary fed on their winter pastures. The fodder was of relatively good quality but very dusty and fed in a very dry environment. Six weeks later, an outbreak of eye-infection was diagnosed in one third of the corralled reindeer; mild symptoms were observed in most of them, but 11 animals showed severe signs of disease. No signs of disease were found in the non-corralled animals. Ten reindeer died through emaciation, the eleventh was sacrificed. Histopathological diagnosis of two severely affected eyes revealed a severe purulent kerato-conjunctivitis with bacteria and plant particles embedded in purulent exudates on the cornea and conjunctiva. In one eye from the two most affected animals Actinomyces pyogenes, coagulase-negative Staphylococci and Escherichia coli and in the other one Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli were found. The bacteria encountered in this study are not considered the primary cause of disease. They seem rather to be opportunistic infectious agents of eyes that have been irritated mechanically through exposure to dusty fodder in a dry environment. The stress through unfamiliar corralling of the reindeer, that followed an insufficient fodder supply, could be considered as an additional infection supporting factor. This case-report emphasises on the importance of different factors involved in favouring outbreaks of disease in reindeer, under intensified husbandry conditions. Even though crowding and emergency feeding may be, at certain circumstances, the only means of survival for reindeer, a negative impact of implied crowding diseases on their productivity, must be considered, as well.

Calf and disease factors affecting growth in female Holstein calves in Florida, USA.

A prospective cohort study was undertaken to determine calf-level factors that affect performance (growth) between birth and 14 months of age in a convenience sample of approximately 3300 female Holstein calves born in 1991 on two large Florida dairy farms. Data collected on each calf at birth included farm of origin, birth date, weight, height at the pelvis, and serum total protein (a measure of colostral immunoglobulin absorption). Birth season was dichotomized into summer and winter using meteorological data collected by University of Florida Agricultural Research Stations. Data collected at approximately 6 and 14 months of age included age, weight, height at the pelvis, and height at the withers. Growth in weight and stature (height) was calculated for each growth period; growth period 1 (GP1) = birth to 6 months, and growth period 2 (GP2) = 6 to 14 months. Health data collected included data of initial treatment and number of treatments for the diseases diarrhea, omphalitis, septicemia, pneumonia and keratoconjunctivitis. After adjusting for disease occurrence, passive transfer of colostral immunoglobulins had no significant effect on body weight gain or pelvic height growth. Season of birth and occurrence of diarrhea, septicemia and respiratory disease were significant variables decreasing heifer growth (height and weight) in GP1. These variables plus farm, birth weight and exact age when '6 month' data were collected explained 20% and 31% of the variation in body weight gain and pelvic height growth, respectively, in GP1. The number of days treated for pneumonia before 6 months of age significantly decreased average daily weight gain in GP2 (P < 0.025), but did not affect stature growth. Treatment for pneumonia after 6 months of age did not significantly affect weight or height gain after age 6 months. Neither omphalitis nor keratoconjunctivitis explained variability in growth in either of the growth periods.

[Ocular Allergy Observatory. National epidemiological survey of seasonal allergic keratoconjunctivitis seen in ophthalmology]. / Observatoire des Allergies Oculaires. Enquête épidémiologique nationale sur les kératoconjonctivites allergiques saisonnières vues en ophtalmologie.

The main objective of this first epidemiological ocular allergy survey was to precise the profile of patients with an ocular allergy, especially in terms of antecedents, clinical type and trigger or favourising factors, in order to better determine the evolution of the type of diagnosed allergy. This survey covered 399 sufferers drown from amongst general ophthalmologists patients consulting for ocular allergy. Three main points which came out of the survey were: - the chronic aspect of this pathology and the multiplicity of responsible allergens; - the almost permanent existence of conjunctival lesions (9 patients out of 10) and corneal epithelial disease (1 patient out of 3); - the need for an extremely rigourous and thorough questioning of the patient and a complete ophthalmologic examination covering not only the symptoms but equally the lesions of ocular allergy.

Ceratoconjuntivite epidêmica: utilidade da Terapêutica Homeopática / Epidemic keratoconjunctivitis: usefulness of homeopathic therapy

Os autores apresentam resultados interessantes utilizando a terapêutica homeopática em casos de ceratoconjuntivite epidêmica