Association between dietary consumption of fatty acids and age-related macular degeneration in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between dietary intake of fatty acids and the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the United States population. Adult participants of the 2005-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were included in this nationwide cross-sectional study. Dietary fatty acid intake was obtained from two 24-h dietary recall interviews. The intake of dietary fatty acids was analyzed as a continuous and categorical variable. AMD status was assessed using nonmydriatic fundus photographs. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between dietary fatty acid intake and AMD. The unweighted population included 4702 individuals of whom 374 had AMD. After adjusting for relevant variables, each 1 unit increase (1 mg/1000 kcal) intake of EPA (OR: 0.996, 95% CI: 0.993-0.996, P = 0.018), DPA (OR: 0.976, 95% CI: 0.962-0.990, P = 0.002), and DHA (OR: 0.996, 95% CI: 0.994-0.999, P = 0.003) were significantly decreased odds of any AMD. The highest versus lowest quartile of EPA (OR: 0.476, P for trend < 0.001), DPA (OR: 0.467, P for trend = 0.005) and DHA (OR: 0.586, P for trend = 0.008) were negatively associated with the odds of any AMD. Subgroup analysis showed that higher quartiles of EPA (OR: 0.461, P for trend < 0.002), DPA (OR: 0.467, P for trend = 0.006) and DHA (OR: 0.578, P for trend = 0.007) exhibited a negative association with early AMD. The study found no significant association between the intake of dietary fatty acids, including n-3 PUFA, and the odds of late AMD. In the 2005-2008 NHANES population, higher dietary DHA, DPA and EPA intake associated with decreased odds of early AMD. However, no clear association was found between specific types of FAs and late AMD.

The effect of GelDex-S58 hydrogel on anti-conjunctival scarring after glaucoma filtration surgery.

Excessive scarring is the main cause of surgical failure in glaucoma filtration surgery. S58 has been shown to have an excellent antifibrotic effect but its duration of action is not sufficient to achieve the desired antiscarring effect. In this study, a light-cured bioadhesive hydrogel composed of GelMA and oxidized dextran (ODex), namely, GelDex, was used to load S58 (GelDex-S58). The microscopic morphology of GelDex-S58 appeared to be a porous structure with good slow-release properties and suitable degradation time. Cell Counting Kit-8, cell scratch and transwell assays showed that GelDex-S58 significantly reduced TGF-ß-induced fibroblast proliferation, increased migration and invasion ability. In in vivo studies, GelDex-S58 treatment prolonged follicular retention, reduced mean intraocular pressure, and significantly reduced collagen deposition and α-SMA expression levels in the conjunctival tissue compared to treatment with S58 alone. In conclusion, GelDex-S58 could reduce scar formation after glaucoma filtration surgery.

The causal relationship between COVID-19 and increased intraocular pressure: A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought great challenges to the global public health system and huge economic burdens to society, the causal effect of COVID-19 and intraocular pressure was blank. Objective: This study aimed to explore the causal association between coronavirus disease (COVID-19) susceptibility, severity and criticality and intraocular pressure (IOP) by bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Materials and methods: Genetic associations with COVID-19 susceptibility, severity and criticality were obtained from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative. Genetic associations with IOP were obtained from GWAS summary data. The standard inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used in the primary assessment of this causality. Other methods were also implemented in supplementary analyses. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and stability of the results. Results: The results showed that COVID-19 susceptibility had null effect on IOP (ß = 0.131; Se = 0.211; P = 0.533) as assessed by the IVW method. Moreover, the results revealed that COVID-19 severity, specifically, hospitalization due to COVID-19, had a positive effect on IOP with nominal significance (ß = 0.228; Se = 0.116; P = 0.049). However, there were null effect of COVID-19 criticality on IOP (ß = 0.078; Se = 0.065; P = 0.227). Sensitivity analysis showed that all the results were reliable and stable. The reverse MR analysis revealed that there was null effect of IOP on COVID-19. Conclusions: We demonstrated that hospitalization due to COVID-19 might increase IOP; therefore, greater attention should be given to monitoring IOP in inpatients with COVID-19.

The Global Burden of Glaucoma: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 Study and Predictions by Bayesian Age-Period-Cohort Analysis.

This study aims to report the most up-to-date information about the global disease burden of glaucoma from 1990 to 2019 and to forecast trends in the next few years. Publicly available data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 were used in this study. The prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of glaucoma from 1990 to 2019 were reported. Finally, trends in the years following 2019 were predicted by Bayesian age-period-cohort (BAPC) models. We showed that, globally, the number of prevalent cases was 3,881,624 [95% uncertainty interval (UI): 3,301,963 to 4,535,045] in 1990 and increased to 7,473,400 (95% UI: 6,347,183 to 8,769,520) in 2019, while the age-standardized prevalence rate decreased from 111.92 [95% uncertainty interval (UI): 94.76 to 130.28 per 100,000] in 1990 to 94.68 (95% UI: 80.42 to 110.87 per 100,000) in 2019. The DALY number of glaucoma increased between 1990 and 2019, from 442,182 (95% UI: 301,827 to 626,486) in 1990 to 748,308 (95% UI: 515,636 to 1,044,667) in 2019. There was a significantly negative association between the sociodemographic index (SDI) and age-standardized DALY rates. The BAPC showed that the age-standardized DALY rate is predicted to decrease gradually in both males and females over the next few years. In summary, from 1990 to 2019, the global burden of glaucoma increased and the age-standardized DALY rate is predicted to decrease in the next few years. With the largest burden of glaucoma found in low-SDI regions, clinical diagnosis and treatment in such areas are more challenging and may warrant more attention.

Plasma lipid levels and risk of retinal vascular occlusion: A genetic study using Mendelian randomization.

The causal effects of plasma lipid levels and the risk of retinal vascular occlusion (RVO) have not been clearly identified, especially for high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). Here, we try to identify these causal risk factors using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were chosen as instrumental variables (IVs). We obtained genetic variants associated with lipid exposure at the genome-wide significance (P<5×10-8) level from a meta-analysis of GWAS from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium (GLGC) based on 188,577 individuals of mostly European ancestry for MR analyses. Meanwhile, we used lipid GWAS from UK Biobank (UKB) with a sample size of 115,078 individuals as a supplement. We obtained genetic predictors of RVO from a FinnGen biobank study. We conducted both univariable and multivariable MR (MVMR) analyses to identify the causal effects of RVO. Although inverse variance weighted (IVW) was the primary method used for MR analyses, MR-Egger and weighted-median methods were used as supplements to IVW. We determined the heterogeneity of IVs using Cochrane's Q test and I2 , and used the MR-Egger intercept and MR-PRESSO Global test to detect horizontal pleiotropy. A leave-one-out sensitivity analysis was conducted by removing a single variant from the analysis. Genetically predicted increased HDL-C level was associated with decreased risk of RVO from GLGC [OR=0.806; 95% CI=(0.659, 0.986); P=0.036], which was consistent with UKB results [OR=0.766; 95% CI=(0.635, 0.925); P=0.005]. MVMR analysis for plasma lipids [adjusted OR=0.639; 95% CI=(0.411, 0.992); P=0.046] or diabetes [adjusted OR=0.81; 95% CI=(0.67, 0.979); P=0.029] suggested that low HDL-C may be an independent risk factor for RVO. However, there was no evidence to support a causal association between LDL-C {GLGC [adjusted OR=1.015; 95% CI=(0.408, 2.523); P=0.975], UKB [OR=1.115; 95% CI=(0.884, 1.407); P=0.359]}, total cholesterol {GLGC [adjusted OR=0.904; 95% CI=(0.307, 2.659); P=0.854], UKB [OR=1.047; 95% CI=(0.816, 1.344); P=0.716]} or triglycerides {GLGC [OR=1.103; 95% CI=(0.883, 1.378); P=0.385], UKB [OR=1.003; 95% CI=(0.827, 1.217); P=0.098]} and RVO. Using two-sample MR analysis, our study suggested that dyslipidemia was a risk factor for RVO. Furthermore, our results indicated that a low HDL-C level may be an independent risk factor for RVO, suggesting that controlling HDL-C level may be effective in RVO development.

Exosome-mediated aptamer S58 reduces fibrosis in a rat glaucoma filtration surgery model.

AIM: To confirm whether exosome-mediated delivery of aptamer S58 (Exo-S58) has a better antifibrotic effect than naked S58 in human conjunctival fibroblasts (HConFs) and a rat glaucoma filtration surgery (GFS) model. METHODS: To enhance the effective reaction time of aptamer S58 in vivo, we loaded aptamer S58 into exosomes derived from HEK293T cells by PEI transfection to determine the effect of Exo-S58 in HConFs and a rat GFS model. RESULTS: Exo-S58 can significantly reduce cell proliferation, migration and fibrosis in TGF-ß2-induced HConFs. In an in vivo experiment, Exo-S58 treatment prolonged filtering bleb retention and reduced fibrosis compared with naked S58 treatment in GFS rats. CONCLUSION: The exosomes are safe and valid carriers to deliver aptamers. Furthermore, Exo-S58 exhibited superior antifibrotic effect than naked S58 both in HConFs cells and rat GFS models.

The Causal Association Between Obesity and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.

The correlation between obesity and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) has not yet been fully established. The aim of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between obesity and POAG by a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. In this study, body mass index (BMI), an index to evaluate general obesity, and waist and hip circumference, indices to evaluate abdominal obesity, were selected as exposures in MR analysis. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were chosen as instrumental variables (IVs). Summary data from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) based on a European ancestry by Locke et al., with regard to BMI, and Shungin et al., with regard to waist and hip circumference, were used. Genetic predictors of POAG were obtained from public GWAS summary data. To assess the causal effect of obesity on POAG, the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method was used as the primary method, and other methods, such as MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode, were also used as complementary analyses. Finally, we performed Cochran's Q statistic to assess heterogeneity, and sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and stability of the MR results. MR analysis showed that BMI has a positive effect on the risk of POAG, with 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI; the risk of POAG increases by approximately 90.9% [OR = 1.909; 95% CI= (1.225, 2.975); p = 0.0042)] (analyzed by IVW); there were no heterogeneity and pleiotropy in the result; and waist circumference also had a positive effect on the risk of POAG [OR = 2.319; 95% CI= (1.071, 5.018); p = 0.033)] analyzed by weighted median. As hip circumference increases, with 1 SD increase in hip circumference, the risk of POAG increases by approximately 119% [OR = 2.199; 95% CI= (1.306, 3.703); p = 0.00305)] estimated by IVW, there were not heterogeneity and pleiotropy as for the result. Our study for the first time confirms that obesity might increase the risk of POAG using two-sample MR analysis. These results might provide guidance on the prevention and treatment of POAG.