Diabetes Mellitus Diabetic Macular Edema In Association With Diabetic Retinopathy In Patients Of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetic Retinopathy is an important cause of blindness with diabetic macular edema(DME) affecting 15% of patients 15yrs after diagnosis. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus(DM) is expected to approximately double globally between 2000 and 2030. The burden of DME is likely to increase as prevalence of DM is expected to rise by 50% globally, from 2000 to 2030. Therefore, is a major cause of concern. To study diabetic macular edema prevalence and pattern in association with severity of diabetic retinopathy in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus. 300 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in anobservational cross sectional study. Clinical assessment was done by recording Visual acuity by Snellen's drum test, slit lamp examination, direct and indirect ophthalmoscope, fundus examination with +90 D lens, Goldman applanation tonometry, gonioscopy, Cirrus SD-OCT macula and fundus photography. Among 600 eyes, prevalence of DME was 14.0% and 24.3% in NPDR and PDR eyes respectively. Statistically, this difference was not significant (p=0.226).Among the categories of diabetic retinopathy, a significant increase in prevalence of DME was observed with increasing severity of NPDR (p<0.001). Among 87 eyes with DME, the pattern of DME was 59.8% with diffuse retinal thickening, 21.8% with cystoids macular edema and 18.4% with serous retinal detachment. Prevalence of DME was more in NPDR group increasing with severity of NPDR. The prevalence of DME pattern of diffused retinal thickening was most followed by cystoid macular edema and serous retinal detachment among those with diabetic retinopathy.

No Association Between GSTT1/M1 Polymorphism in Glutathione S-Transferase (GST) Gene with Cataract in Hypertensive Patients from North India.

Age-related cataract has globally emerged as the leading cause visual impairment leading to blindness. Glutathione S-Transferases and their genetic variantsplay an important role in pathogenesis of cataract. This case-control study was carried out to investigate possible association of GSTT1/M1 polymorphism with Cataract risk in North Indians. Our study included 221 individuals, 132 as Cataract cases (70 with and 62 without hypertension) and 89 age and ethnicity matched controls. Genetic polymorphism in GST gene (GSTT1/M1 polymorphism) wasevaluated by multiplexPolymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technique.The frequencies of the GSTM1-positive and GSTT1-positive in hypertensive cataract cases were 55.71%, 92.86%; while they were 61.29% and 95.16% in cataract cases without hypertension and; 46.07% and 97.75% in healthy controls respectively. The frequencies of GSTM1-null and GSTT1-null in hypertensive cataract cases were 44.29% and 7.14% %; while they were 38.71% and 4.84% in cataract cases without hypertension and; 53.93% and 2.25% in healthy controls respectively. The frequency of GSTT1/M1 positive wild type genotype was 48.57% in hypertensive and 56.45% in normotensive cataract cases while it was 43.82% in control subjects. Our study found no association between GSTT1/M1 polymorphism with cataract but a nearly significant relationship was observed in GSTM1 positive and GSTM1 null genotypes (p=0.065) with cataract in subjects without hypertension. The study needs furtherinvestigation due to limited sample size.

Drug Idiosyncrasy In Ophthalmic Practice

Idiosyncratic drug reactions, denoting non-immunological hypersensitivity to a substance, have been a neglected entity. The idiosyncrasy, more often than not, is confused with hypersensitivity, which is an undesirable reaction of normal immune system. The present article gives an insight of the various aspects of idiosyncrasy and idiosyncratic responses of drugs commonly used in ophthalmic practice.