Clinical Efficacy of Medical Dextrose Tincture Liquid in the Treatment of Facial Photoaging.

INTRODUCTION: Exogenous aging mainly refers to photo-aging, which is caused by environmental factors including ultraviolet exposure. Dextran is a homopolysaccharide composed of glucose as monosaccharide, and glucose units are connected by glycosidic bonds. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to explore the clinical efficacy of medical dextrose tincture liquid (medical dextrose tincture) in the treatment of facial photoaging. METHODS: Thirty-four volunteers were included in the randomized double-blind study. According to the random number table method, the subjects were randomized into control and treatment groups. The subjects in the control and treatment groups were treated with medical hyaluronic acid gel and medical dextrose tincture, respectively. They received mesotherapy therapy three times with an interval of 28 days between treatments. Video image acquisition was performed before treatment and 28 days after treatment. Skin moisture content, glossiness, heme content, collagen density, and elasticity were tested. The subjective evaluations of subjects and doctors before and after treatment were compared. RESULTS: Compared with the pre-treatment baseline, medical dextran tincture significantly increased skin moisture retention, skin gloss, and skin collagen density (p<0.001). Additionally, the skin retraction time was significantly reduced, and the skin retraction time was also markedly decreased after treatment with medical dextran tincture (p<0.001). The effects of medical dextran tincture were more significant in comparison with medical hyaluronic acid gel (p<0.05). The subjective evaluation results of doctors showed that after 84 days of treatment, the overall skin photoaging score was significantly reduced (p<0.001). The subjective evaluation results of volunteers showed that the various skin problems of more than 50% of volunteers were improved after treatment. CONCLUSION: Medical dextran tincture has obvious effects of moisturizing, increasing luster, improving skin redness, increasing skin collagen content and enhancing skin elasticity.

The differences between fecal microbiota and intestinal fluid microbiota in colon polyps: An observational study.

ABSTRACT: Generally, intestinal microbiota can be classified into intestinal cavity microbiota and mucosal microbiota, among which, the former is the default type. This study aimed to identify the differences between fecal microbiota and intestinal fluid microbiota in colon polys.This study enrolled patients with colon polys who met the Rome-III criteria to carry out 16s rDNA gene sequencing. Then, both fresh feces as well as intestinal fluid was sampled. Thereafter, α/ß diversities, together with the heterogeneities with regard to microbial function and structure were assessed among those intestinal fluid and fresh feces samples collected.According to bioinformatics analysis, difference in α-diversity was not statistically significant between intestinal fluid microbiota and fecal microbiota among patients with colorectal polyps (CPs). Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis of ß-diversity revealed that differences were of statistical significance between both groups. In addition, linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis displayed great heterogeneities in intestinal microbiota of both groups, including Firmicutes, Clostridia, and Phascolarctobacterium. At the phylum level, difference (P = .016) in Spirochaetes was statistically significant between the intestinal fluid group and fecal group. At the family level, differences in Bacteroidaceae, Micrococcaceae, F16, Spirocheatacae, Enterobacteriaceae, Cardiobacteriaceae, Turkish Spirobacteriaceae, Bifidobacteriaceae, and Dethiosulfovibrionaceae were statistically significant between the 2 groups. At the genus level, there were statistical differences between the 2 groups in terms of Bacteroidetes, Rothia, Actinobacillus, F16, Treponema, Oscillospira, Turicibacter, Sharpea, Heamophilus, Veillonella, and Cardiobacterium.There are statistical differences in the composition between intestinal microbiota and fecal microbiota in CP patients, both of which are equally important and indispensable for analyzing the intestinal microbiota in CP patients.

The effect of AAV-mediated downregulation of Claudin-3 on the development of mouse retinal vasculature.

Retinal vascular development is a very tightly regulated and organized process of vessel formation and regression to generate the mature vasculature system. Claudin-3 has been found to be required for the normal development of the neural retina and its vessels in zebrafish in our recent study. In this study, we investigated whether Claudin-3 played a role in the development of mouse retinal vasculature. Immunofluorescent staining was performed to detect the expression and localization of Claudin-3 in the mouse retina. Intravitreal injection of a recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a short hairpin RNA targeting Claudin-3 mRNA was performed to down-regulate Claudin-3 expression in retina in neonatal (Postnatal Day 3, P3) C57BL/6J mice. Retinal vessels were examined by isolectin B4 immunofluorescent staining on the whole-mount retinas and frozen retinal sections at P10. The apoptotic retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were measured by TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labelling (TUNEL) staining. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) expression was detected by immunofluorescent staining. The protein levels of Claudin-3, VEGF-A and B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) were evaluated by Western blot at P7, P10 and P14. We found that Claudin-3 mainly expressed in the RGCs and progressively increased during the retinal development. The AAV-mediated downregulation of Claudin-3 at P3 impeded the development of retinal deep vascularization of P10 mouse, but without effect on the development of the retinal superficial plexus. Claudin-3 knockdown increased RGC apoptosis and reduced the expression of VEGF-A and Bcl-2 in the retinas. These results suggested that the downregulation of Claudin-3 induced RGC apoptosis and impeded the mouse retinal vascular development by downregulating the levels of VEGF-A and Bcl-2.

Sargassum fusiforme Alginate Relieves Hyperglycemia and Modulates Intestinal Microbiota and Metabolites in Type 2 Diabetic Mice.

Sargassum fusiforme alginate (SF-Alg) possess many pharmacological activities, including hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic. However, the hypoglycemic mechanisms of SF-Alg remain unclear due to its low bioavailability. In this study, we evaluated the therapeutic effect of SF-Alg on high-fat diet (HFD)/streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 2 diabetes (T2D) mice. SF-Alg intervention was found to significantly reduce fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglycerides (TG), and total cholesterol (TC), while increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) and improving glucose tolerance. In addition, administrating SF-Alg to diabetic mice moderately attenuated pathological changes in adipose, hepatic, and heart tissues as well as skeletal muscle, and diminished oxidative stress. To probe the underlying mechanisms, we further analyzed the gut microbiota using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, as well as metabolites by non-targeted metabolomics. Here, SF-Alg significantly increased some benign bacteria (Lactobacillus, Bacteroides, Akkermansia Alloprevotella, Weissella and Enterorhabdus), and significantly decreased harmful bacteria (Turicibacter and Helicobacter). Meanwhile, SF-Alg dramatically decreased branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) and aromatic amino acids (AAAs) in the colon of T2D mice, suggesting a positive benefit of SF-Alg as an adjvant agent for T2D.

Protective Effect of a Bispecific Fc-Fusion Protein on the Barrier of Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the study was to evaluate the protective effects of IBI302, a bispecific Fc-fusion protein that theoretically can bind vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), complement C3b, and C4b in the barrier of the cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (hRPE) cells. METHODS: Primary hRPE cells were isolated and cultured to monolayer barrier. hRPE monolayers were divided into the PBS control group, VEGF-Trap group, complement receptor 1 (CR1) group, and IBI302 group. Identification of hRPE cells, barrier function, inflammation factors, and immune response products was tested by immunofluorescent staining, transepithelial resistance (TER), and ELISA. RESULTS: IBI302 treatment significantly improved the TER of the barrier of hRPE cells after complement-activated oxidative stress compared with the PBS control group, VEGF-Trap group, and CR1 group. The maximum effect of IBI302 on protecting hRPE cell viability was observed at the concentration of 1 µg/mL. The elevated expression of VEGF, chemokine (C-C Motif) ligand 2, C3a, C5a, and membrane attack complex was reduced by IBI302. CONCLUSION: IBI302 could protect the barrier function of hRPE cells. IBI302 might be a potentially effective drug for the RPE barrier-associated ocular diseases.

Effect of Choroidal Vessel Density on the Ellipsoid Zone and Visual Function in Retinitis Pigmentosa Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

Purpose: We evaluate the effect of choroidal vessel density on the residual length of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: Fifty-three patients with RP (n = 101 eyes) and 53 normal participants (n = 76 eyes) were enrolled in this study. Patients with RP were assigned to three groups according to their best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). All patients underwent ophthalmologic examinations, including BCVA, fundus examination performed with a slit-lamp using an indirect 90 diopter (D) lens, OCTA, full-field electroretinogram (ERG), and visual field. The choroidal vessel density in the choriocapillaris-Sattler's layer (DC-S), Haller's layer (DH), horizontal length of the ellipsoid (HEL), and vertical length of the ellipsoid (VEL) were assessed using OCTA and Adobe Photoshop CS3 extended software. Results: A significantly increasing impairment of choroidal vessel density (DC-S and DH) was characterized in the RP groups compared to those of the controls (P < 0.05 for all). The magnitude of the reduction in the DC-S and DH was much easier to identify for more severely impaired BCVA in the RP groups (P < 0.05 for all). The DC-S had the strongest correlation with the HEL, VEL, BCVA, visual field, and b-wave amplitude (r = 0.735, r = 0.753, r = -0.843, r = 0.579, and r = 0.671, respectively). Conclusions: Using noninvasive OCTA, choroidal microcirculation, especially in the small/middle choroidal vessel layers, was a prominent factor affecting the EZ, visual acuity, visual field, and recordable ERG b-wave amplitude of patients with RP. This may provide new insights into the progress mechanism and treatment of RP.

Association of IGFN1 variant with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

BACKGROUND: Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) share a similar phenotype but are different in their clinical manifestations, responses to treatment and prognosis. Whether PCV is a subtype of AMD or a distinct entity from nAMD remains unknown. Therefore, we performed a whole-exome sequencing based association analysis to compare the genetic architecture of PCV and nAMD in Han Chinese. METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing analysis was performed on 21 nAMD cases, 20 PCV cases and 20 healthy controls. As a follow-up validation, 145 nAMD cases, 160 PCV cases and 193 controls were genotyped using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform (Sequenom, San Diego, CA, USA). RESULTS: A novel variant, c.6196A>G in the IGFN1 gene, was significantly associated with only PCV (combined p = 7.1 × 10-11 , odds ratio = 9.44), but not with nAMD (combined p = 0.683, odds ratio = 1.30). The minor allele G conferred an increased risk of PCV. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study indicate that, although some of the susceptibility loci are shared between PCV and nAMD, a unique genetic signature may decide the pathogenesis of PCV.

Enhanced Depth SD-OCT Images Reveal Characteristic Choroidal Changes in Patients With Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To identify characteristic choroidal changes of patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease at different stages. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-four patients with VKH in the acute uveitic or convalescent stages, 24 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), and 54 normal participants were enrolled in this prospective, observational study. Enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans were captured for all subjects to allow for comparison of choroidal morphological findings. RESULTS: Numerous round or oval hyperreflective profiles with hyporeflective cores, corresponding to choroidal vessels, were observed in the choroid of control participants and patients with CSC; whereas the numbers of these profiles were markedly decreased in the choroid of VKH patients in both the acute uveitic and convalescent stages. CONCLUSION: A reduction in vascular profiles in the choroid is observed in VKH and may aid in the differentiation with disorders such as CSC. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2016;47:1004-1012.].