Uniocular High Myopia: A Case Series

Anisometropic myopia is a rare and unique entity in which the two eyes of the same individual have grown unequally. This poses the risk of amblyopia in the more myopic eye if not detected and corrected early in life. Here, we present a case series of four cases of uniocular amblyopia. In all the four cases, there was a disparity in axial length of the two eyes. The other parameters including keratometry readings were normal in all the cases. This led to uniocular myopia. The anisometropic amblyopia hence caused led to a decrease of vision in the concerned eyes. This unilateral amblyopia caused could have been easily prevented if the timely diagnosis had been made and treatment instituted early in life

Microspherophakia And Congenital Superior Divisional Third Nerve Palsy: A Rare Presentation

Unilateral microspherophakia without systemic associations is a rare condition and so is congenital palsy of the superior division of the third nerve. Here, we report both these rarities together in a 32-year-old male who had microspherophakia in his right eye and congenital palsy of the superior division of the third nerve in his left eye. The intraocular pressure (IOP) in the right eye was normal with no glaucomatous change in the fundus, but the patient had developed cataractous changes in the microspherophakia lens. The left eye of the patient had low vision due to congenital ptosis which led to stimulus deprivation amblyopia

Paraoxonase gene Q192R & L55M polymorphisms in Indians with acute myocardial infarction & association with oxidized low density lipoprotein.

Background & objectives: Paraoxonase (PON) is an HDL associated ester hydrolase with an ability to retard LDL oxidation in vitro by preventing lipid peroxide generation. The population variability in enzyme activity is attributed to polymorphisms in paraoxonase gene. For example, polymorphism at codon 192 and 55 of the paraoxonase gene has been reported to be associated with coronary heart disease (CAD) and diabetes among different ethnic groups. The present study looks at PON192 and 55 polymorphism among hospitalized Asian Indian patients with myocardial infarction (MI) and their association with circulating oxidized LDL and antioxidant status. Methods: One hundred and twenty four consecutive patients of acute myocardial infarction and 221 age-matched controls were recruited for the study. Oxidized LDL was measured in serum by ELISA and total antioxidant levels by the 2,2’-azino-bis-(3 ethyl benzothiozoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) method. Other known cardiovascular risk factors, apolipoprotein B, apolipoproteinA1, lipoprotein(a), hsCRP and homocysteine were also measured. Paraoxonase gene polymorphism at codon 192 and 55 were analyzed by PCR-RFLP. Results: Patients with MI had significantly higher oxidized LDL (P<0.05) and lower total antioxidant capacity (P<0.001) as compared to controls. Oxidized LDL correlated with total cholesterol, LDL and Apo B in patients. B allele frequency of the codon 192 polymorphism in paraoxonase gene was higher in cases as compared to controls and odds ratio of developing the MI with BB genotype versus AA genotype was 2.37, (P=0.044). Codon 55 polymorphism in paraoxonase gene was not associated with CAD. There was no difference in oxidized LDL between the different genotypes of PON192 and PON55. Interpretation & conclusions: Although PON192 polymorphism was associated with CAD, no correlation of PON192 or 55 polymorphism was found with oxidized LDL suggesting that presence of other antioxidant factors may be of equal importance in preventing LDL oxidation.

Improved method of total antioxidant assay.

Commercially available analytical kits for the estimation of total antioxidant status are expensive and time-consuming. Most of the commercially available kits for total antioxidants estimation are based on the principle of suppression of ABTS radical cation formation by antioxidant in the serum sample. The method requires stringent assay conditions, like exact incubation time and the temperature (37 degrees C) of the reaction and on an average not more than 40 samples can be analyzed on a day. We have adapted the assay to a microplate, thereby allowing more number of samples to be analyzed per day. Further, the reagent volume required is one fourth than that for the original procedure thereby cutting cost. Thirty samples were analyzed by original method on spectrophotometer and our adapted microplate assay. The values of total antioxidant obtained by the two methods correlated well. Thus, total antioxidant can be estimated reliably using the microplate method.