Pathological role of inflammation in ocular disease progress and its targeting by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their exosome; current status and prospect.

Because of their unique capacity for differentiation to a diversity of cell lineages and immunosuppressive properties, mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are being looked at as a potential new treatment option in ophthalmology. The MSCs derived from all tissue sources possess immunomodulatory attributes through cell-to-cell contact and releasing a myriad of immunomodulatory factors (IL-10, TGF-ß, growth-related oncogene (GRO), indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), nitric oxide (NO), interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)). Such mediators, in turn, alter both the phenotype and action of all immune cells that serve a pathogenic role in the progression of inflammation in eye diseases. Exosomes from MSCs, as natural nano-particles, contain the majority of the bioactive components of parental MSCs and can easily by-pass all biological barriers to reach the target epithelial and immune cells in the eye without interfering with nearby parenchymal cells, thus having no serious side effects. We outlined the most recent research on the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic benefits of MSC and MSC-exosome in the treatment of inflammatory eye diseases in the current article.

Advances in natural killer cell therapies for breast cancer.

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cause of cancer death in women. According to the American Cancer Society's yearly cancer statistics, BC constituted almost 15% of all the newly diagnosed cancer cases in 2022 for both sexes. Metastatic disease occurs in 30% of patients with BC. The currently available treatments fail to cure metastatic BC, and the average survival time for patients with metastatic BC is approximately 2 years. Developing a treatment method that terminates cancer stem cells without harming healthy cells is the primary objective of novel therapeutics. Adoptive cell therapy is a branch of cancer immunotherapy that utilizes the immune cells to attack cancer cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are an essential component of innate immunity and are critical in destroying tumor cells without prior stimulation with antigens. With the advent of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), the autologous or allogeneic use of NK/CAR-NK cell therapy has raised new hopes for treating patients with cancer. Here, we describe recent developments in NK and CAR-NK cell immunotherapy, including the biology and function of NK cells, clinical trials, different sources of NK cells and their future perspectives on BC.

An electrochemical aptasensor for detection of prostate-specific antigen-based on carbon quantum dots-gold nanoparticles.

In this work, an electrochemical aptasensor was described for the determination of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). Aptamer chains were decorated on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) via carbon quantum dots/Au nanoparticles (Au/CQD). Structural analysis that was used to characterize the prepared materials shows that Au/CQD nanoparticles synthesized in a spherical shape with an average size of 70 nm. Furthermore, the combination of Au nanoparticles with CQD resulted in formation of crystalline the structure of the Au/CQD composite. To study the electrochemical performance of the prepared aptasensor, cyclic voltammetry, square wave voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were used. The results show that the aptasensor has a good selectivity to PSA over other biomaterials with the time optimized about 30 min. K4 [Fe(CN)6 ] was used as an electrochemical probe with the limit of detection about 2 fg⋅mL-1 . To avoid the hazardous nature of K4 [Fe(CN)6 ], a label-based aptasensor was prepared using methylene blue as an electrochemical signal producer. They provide the capability of electrochemical detection in buffer phosphate solution with high sensitivity.

The Diagnostic Value of Neutrophil to Lymphocyte Ratio as an Effective Biomarker for Eye Disorders: A Meta-Analysis.

The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) reflects a dynamic relationship between the innate (neutrophils) and adaptive (lymphocytes) cellular immune response. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to critically evaluate the literature regarding the use of the NLR as a reliable means to detect several ocular disorders. Our study was registered with the PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022314850). Three databases, including PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Web of Science, were searched on September 9, 2022, with no restrictions on the article's language. Finally, 32 articles were recognized as eligible for our meta-analysis. We found that patients with eye diseases had significantly elevated levels of NLR in comparison to healthy controls (SMD =0.53, 95% CI =0.35-0.71, P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, patients with keratoconus (SMD =0.69; 95% CI =0.33-1.05, P < 0.001), glaucoma (SMD =0.56, 95% CI =0.25-0.87, P < 0.001), pterygium (SMD =0.14; 95% CI =0.01-0.26, P < 0.001), and idiopathic epiretinal membrane (SMD =0.14; 95% CI =0.01-0.26, P < 0.001) had higher levels of NLR compared to healthy controls. However, NLR levels of patients with dry eye disease were similar to healthy controls (SMD =0.32, 95% CI = -0.49-1.13, P = 0.435). It can be said that NLR is a valuable marker of systemic inflammation, which is significantly increased in many eye disorders, suggesting that inflammation plays a key role in the pathophysiology of these diseases.

Wavefront aberration and contrast sensitivity after implantation of foldable and rigid iris claw phakic intraocular lenses: Artiflex versus artisan.

AIM OF STUDY: The aim of this study is to assess wavefront aberration and contrast sensitivity (CS) after implantation of foldable iris claw - artiflex- and rigid iris claw - artisan- phakic intraocular lenses (pIOLs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A nonrandomized prospective comparative case study was performed on 57 eyes; of which, 54 were myopia and 3 were hyperopia. Twenty-four patients had artisan pIOL implantation and 33 had artiflex pIOL implantation. Higher-order aberration (HOA) and CS were obtained 1 year after surgery. RESULTS: Total HOA in artisan group was greater than artiflex group (P = 0.044) with a mean HOA of 0.44 ± 0.15 root mean square (RMS) for artisan and 0.35 ± 0.15 RMS for artiflex. Although, there were no significant differences in the vertical trefoil, vertical coma, horizontal trefoil, horizontal coma, secondary astigmatism, quatrefoil, and fourth order spherical aberration in two groups. CS in mesopic conditions was better in artiflex-treated eyes at three spatial frequencies of 6, 12, and 18 cycles per degree (cpd) (P = 0.003, P = 0.007, and P = 0.00, respectively), and no significant difference was seen between two lenses at 3 cpd. CONCLUSION: Although the components of HOA were not significantly different between two groups, total HOA was higher in artisan group, which may be due to the slight differences in each component, increasing the HOA as a total. CS was significantly better in artiflex group.

Stromal Demarcation Line in Pulsed Versus Continuous Light Accelerated Corneal Cross-linking for Keratoconus.

PURPOSE: To compare the stromal demarcation line depth in pulsed versus continuous corneal cross-linking (CXL) for keratoconus. METHODS: Seventy eyes underwent epithelium-off cross-linking, with 0.1% riboflavin applied during 10 minutes prior to ultraviolet irradiation at 30 mW/cm2. Thirty-six eyes received pulsed irradiation (1 second on, 1 second off) for 8 minutes and 34 eyes underwent continuous irradiation for 4 minutes. Total fluence was 7.2 J/cm2 for both groups. Patients were evaluated at 3 months after the procedure. RESULTS: A significantly deeper stromal demarcation line was observed in the pulsed group compared to the continuous group (201.11 ± 27.76 vs. 159.88 ± 20.86 µm; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The pulsed corneal cross-linking protocol induced a significantly deeper stromal demarcation line when compared to the 4 minutes of highly accelerated continuous CXL protocol. Neither CXL protocol induced a shallower demarcation line comparable to less accelerated CXL protocols previously reported.