Subject(s)
Herpes Zoster Vaccine , Herpes Zoster , Retinal Necrosis Syndrome, Acute , Humans , Retinal Necrosis Syndrome, Acute/diagnosis , Retinal Necrosis Syndrome, Acute/drug therapy , Retinal Necrosis Syndrome, Acute/etiology , Herpes Zoster/prevention & control , Herpesvirus 3, Human , Adjuvants, Immunologic/adverse effects , Vaccines, Subunit , Herpes Zoster Vaccine/adverse effectsABSTRACT
Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness around the world. With its slow asymptomatic progression, there is an emphasis on early detection and frequent monitoring. A novel microfluidic contact lens has been established as a potential way to track the fluctuations of the intraocular pressure (IOP) which is a key indicator for diagnosing and monitoring glaucoma progression. The purpose of this article is to determine the effect of physiological variations of the eye on the performance of the microfluidic contact lens. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) was used to measure the central corneal thickness (CCT) and radius of corneal curvature (RCC) for a series of 16 fresh enucleated porcine eyes. The effect of these corneal anatomic features on device performance was then assessed by systematically adjusting intraocular pressure from 10 to 34 mmHg and monitoring the device indicator response. The performance of the microfluidic contact lens was determined by finding the amount the indicator fluid shifted in position as a result of 1 mmHg IOP increase. The relationship between IOP and indicator fluid was found to be linear for all eyes. The slope of the indicator fluid movement as a result of the IOP was evaluated against the CCT and RCC of each porcine eye. This yielded low correlation coefficients, 0.057 for CCT and 0.024 for RCC, meaning that these physiological differences showed no systematic impact on the measurements made with the contact lens.
Subject(s)
Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic , Glaucoma , Animals , Cornea/diagnostic imaging , Intraocular Pressure , Swine , Tonometry, OcularABSTRACT
The gas gland of physoclistous fish utilizes glucose to generate lactic acid that leads to the off-loading of oxygen from haemoglobin. This study addresses characteristics of the first two steps in glucose utilization in the gas gland of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Glucose metabolism by isolated gas gland cells was 12- and 170-fold higher, respectively, than that in heart and red blood cells (RBCs) as determined by the production of (3)H2O from [2-(3)H]glucose. In the gas gland, essentially all of the glucose consumed was converted to lactate. Glucose uptake in the gas gland shows a very high dependence upon facilitated transport as evidenced by saturation of uptake of 2-deoxyglucose at a low extracellular concentration and a requirement for high levels of cytochalasin B for uptake inhibition despite the high efficacy of this treatment in heart and RBCs. Glucose transport is via glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), which is localized to the glandular cells. GLUT1 western blot analysis from whole-tissue lysates displayed a band with a relative molecular mass of 52â kDa, consistent with the deduced amino acid sequence. Levels of 52â kDa GLUT1 in the gas gland were 2.3- and 33-fold higher, respectively, than those in heart and RBCs, respectively. Glucose phosphorylation is catalysed by hexokinase Ib (HKIb), a paralogue that cannot bind to the outer mitochondrial membrane. Transcript levels of HKIb in the gas gland were 52- and 57-fold more abundant, respectively, than those in heart and RBCs. It appears that high levels of GLUT1 protein and an unusual isoform of HKI are both critical for the high rates of glycolysis in gas gland cells.
