Interleukin-28 as a Promising Marker for Predicting Invasive Mechanical Ventilation Requirement and Mortality in COVID-19 Patients.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate serum interleukin-28 levels in COVID-19 patients and correlate the results with disease severity. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study included 90 patients who presented to the COVID-19 outpatient clinics, hospital wards, and intensive care units. Serum interleukin-28, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, fibrinogen, d-dimer, and ferritin levels were measured. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on clinical severity to mild, moderate, and severe groups (each group consisted of 30 patients). RESULTS: There were significant differences in serum C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase, fibrinogen, d-dimer, ferritin, and interleukin- 28 levels between all groups. The mean serum interleukin-28 levels of all patients were 383.74 ± 63.58 ng/L. The mean serum interleukin-28 levels were 335.52 ± 42.12 ng/L in the mild group, 366.88 ± 41.27 ng/L in the moderate group, and 453.46 ± 36.78 ng/L in the severe group. CONCLUSION: There were significant differences in comparisons of all pairs (P < .05). Interleukin-28 may be a promising biomarker for detecting disease severity in COVID-19 patients.

Selenium Protects Retinal Cells from Cisplatin-Induced Alterations in Carbohydrate Residues.

BACKGROUND: Investigate alterations in the expression and localization of carbohydrate units in rat retinal cells exposed to cisplatin toxicity. AIMS: The aim of the study was to evaluate putative protective effects of selenium on retinal cells subjected to cisplatin. STUDY DESIGN: Animal experiment. METHODS: Eighteen healthy Wistar rats were divided into three equal groups: 1. Control, 2. Cisplatin and 3. Cisplatin+selenium groups. After anesthesia, the right eye of each rat was enucleated. RESULTS: Histochemically, retinal cells of control groups reacted with α-2,3-bound sialic acid-specific Maackia amurensis lectin (MAA) strongly, while cisplatin reduced the staining intensity for MAA. However, selenium administration alleviated the reducing effect of cisplatin on the binding sites for MAA in retinal cells. The staining intensity for N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc residues) specific Griffonia simplicifolia-1 (GSL-1) was relatively slight in control animals and cisplatin reduced this slight staining for GSL-1 further. Selenium administration mitigated the reducing effect of cisplatin on the binding sites for GSL-1. A diffuse staining for N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) specific wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) was observed throughout the retina of the control animals. In particular, cells localized in the inner plexiform and photoreceptor layers are reacted strongly with WGA. Compared to the control animals, binding sites for WGA in the retina of rats given cisplatin were remarkably decreased. However, the retinal cells of rats given selenium reacted strongly with WGA. CONCLUSION: Cisplatin reduces α-2,3-bound sialic acid, GlcNAc and GalNAc residues in certain retinal cells. However, selenium alleviates the reducing effect of cisplatin on carbohydrate residues in retinal cells.

Mineralocorticoid receptor gene - 2G/C polymorphism in central serous chorioretinopathy and relation of polymorphism with plasma cortisol levels / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM:To evaluate the mineralocorticoid receptor ( MR) gene - 2G/ C single nucleotide polymorphism in central serous chorioretinopathy ( CSCR ), polymorphism and plasma cortisol level relationship. METHODS: Sixty CSCR patients and 50 controls were included in the study. Inclusion criteria for patients were acute manifestation of CSCR characterized by serous retinal detachment, RPE detachment or dysfunction without evidence of any other possible cause of fluid exudation, such as choroidal neovascularization, inflammation or infiltration. Peripheric blood sample was collected from the participants between 8 and 10 a. m. to avoid the diurnal changes of cortisol levels. MR (NR3C2) gene polymorphism ( rs2070951 ) and plasma cortisol levels sere studied. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies in CSCR group were G/ C (46. 6% ), G/ G (26. 7%) and C/ C (26. 7%). There was no statistically significant difference in terms of genotype distribution among groups ( P = 0. 96 ). The plasma cortisol levels were also studied and the results were 401. 2±162. 1 nmol/ L in the CSCR group and 296. 8±130. 1 nmol/ L in the control group and the difference was statistically significant ( P CONCLUSION: The MR (NR3C2) gene polymorphism is not associated with CSCR and the plasma cortisol levels.

Comparing biometry in normal eyes of children with unilateral cataract/corneal disease to age-matched controls.

OBJECTIVE: To compare ocular biometry and central corneal thickness of unaffected healthy eyes of pediatric patients with monocular cataracts/corneal opacities and age- matched controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 329 eyes of 329 children who were between 1 and 12 years old. The study group (n: 164) consisted of healthy fellow eyes of children operated for unilateral congenital/traumatic cataract and corneal laceration. Axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, vitreous chamber depth, and central corneal thickness were measured by ultrasound biometry/ pachymetry. RESULTS: Axial length was 22.16 mm in the study group and 21.99 mm in the control group. Anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth results were 3.35; 3.64 and 15.20 in the treatment group and 3.20; 3.63, and 15.15 mm in the control group, respectively. The axial length and all the components, i.e. anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth are higher in the unaffected healthy eyes of the pediatric patients than that of the control group but only the difference in the anterior chamber depth was statistically significant. The central corneal thickness was 548 microns and 559 microns in the study and the control groups, respectively, and the difference was found to be significant. CONCLUSION: Greater anterior chamber depth was chiefly responsible for the overall increase in the axial length in the study group. The central corneal thickness was significantly thinner in the study group than that of the control group. Keywords Ocular biometry; central corneal thickness; anterior chamber depth; lens thickness; vitreous chamber depth.

Change in tear film characteristics in visual display terminal users.

PURPOSE: To evaluate changes in symptoms and tear film characteristics in young computer users. METHODS: Fifty-one computer users and 26 controls were evaluated at the beginning and the end of the working day. Subjects with ocular or systemic disease, history of ocular surgery, use of contact lenses or glasses with antireflective surfaces, and use of topical or systemic medications were excluded from the study. Computer use duration, Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, tear osmolarity, Schirmer test, tear break-up time (TBUT), and ocular surface vital dye staining were performed prevocationally and postvocationally. RESULTS: The mean age was 31.2 ± 6.3 years in computer users and 33.7 ± 5.8 in controls. The mean reported computer use was 6.9 ± 2.7 hours/day in computer users and 0.4 ± 0.5 hours/day in controls. The mean prevocational and postvocational values in computer users for OSDI, osmolarity, TBUT, and Schirmer test were 23.2 ± 16.6 and 27.0 ± 17.6, 306.6 ± 14.9 and 311.0 ± 12.5 mOsm/L, 13.9 ± 4.0 and 13.2 ± 3.8 seconds, 22.7 ± 11.8 and 20.6 ± 12.5 mm, respectively. The vocational change was significant for all parameters in the computer user group but not in the control group. The osmolarity-based dry eye diagnosis was 27.4% in the computer users while it was 15.4% in the control group. Oxford score was only grade 1 in 5.9% of visual display terminal users and did not change at the end of the day. CONCLUSIONS: Both symptoms and signs of dry eye increased significantly with computer use. Approximately 1 of every 3-4 computer users was found to have dry eye with higher tear osmolarity values.

Ocular biometry and central corneal thickness in children: a hospital-based study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the distribution of axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, vitreous chamber depth, and central corneal thickness in children at different age groups. METHODS: We studied 364 eyes in 182 children with ages between 1 and 12 years. Axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth were measured by ultrasound biometry. Central corneal thickness was measured by ultrasound pachymetry in all children. RESULTS: The mean age was 6.54 ・} 3.42 years. The axial length was 20.95 mm in 1-2 years old and 22.95 mm in 11-12 years old. The central corneal thickness was 556 µm in 1-2 years old and 555 µm in 11-12 years old. The mean anterior chamber depth and vitreous chamber depth increased with age (3.06 mm to 3.44 mm in anterior chamber depth, 13.75 mm to 15.99 mm in vitreous chamber depth), and the lens thickness decreased as age increased (3.67-3.51 mm). CONCLUSION: The axial length increased with age and reached adult levels by the age of 9-10 years. The lens thickness gradually decreased until 12 years. The central corneal thickness measurements did not yield a linear algorithm.

The protective effect of selenium in cisplatin-related retinotoxicity.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the retinal toxicity of cisplatin and neuroprotective effect of selenium in cisplatin-related retinal toxicity. METHODS: Eighteen adult Wistar-Albino rats were divided into three groups. Group 1 (n = 6) received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of 2.5 ml physiologic saline for three days, group 2 (n = 6) received i.p. 16 mg/kg cisplatin for three days and group 3 (n = 6) received i.p. 16 mg/kg cisplatin for three days and 1.5 mg/kg twice daily selenium via gavage five days prior to cisplatin injection and for three days concomitantly with cisplatin injections. The total retinal thickness, outer nuclear layer (ONL), inner nuclear layer (INL) and inner plexiform layer (IPL) thicknesses were measured in hematoxylin/eosin and apoptotic index (AI) of ganglion cell layer (GCL) and INL was evaluated in TdT-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling (TUNEL)-stained retina sections. RESULTS: Selenium statistically succeeded to reduce total retinal thickness in cisplatin-toxicated retinas: from 210.17 ± 23.40 to 173.55 ± 20.43, ONL: 49.79 ± 5.32 to 41.87 ± 6.30, INL: 33.72 ± 7.93 to 25.06 ± 5.73 and IPL: 53.61 ± 8.63 to 45.61 ± 6.92 µm in hematoxylin/eosin-stained retina sections. The AI was also reduced in INL (30.10 ± 12.02 to 19.48 ± 12.99) and in GCL (37.59 ± 17.70 to 33.15 ± 13.78). However, statistical significance was present in only AI values of INL. CONCLUSIONS: Selenium limited edema due to the toxicity and reduced the retinal thickness and showed neuroprotection in cisplatin-induced retinotoxicity.

The effect of intracameral anesthesia on macular thickness and ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness after uneventful phacoemulsification surgery: prospective and randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effect of intracameral lidocaine anesthesia on macular thickness and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) thickness following uneventful phacoemusification in healthy subjects. METHODS: This is a prospective, randomized and double- masked study. One hundred eyes of 74 consecutive patients were randomized to receive intracameral preservative-free lidocaine 1 % (intracameral lidocaine group) or intracameral injection of balanced salt solution (sham injection group) at the time of the phacoemulsification surgery. Preoperative and postoperative macular thickness analyses with spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-ODT) were performed and the results between the two groups were compared. RESULTS: Postoperatively, both the central foveal thickness (CFT) and the thickness of perifoveal macula were significantly improved in both groups (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between CFT and the inner and outer macular zone thicknesses of the two groups at any follow-up time. In both groups, GC-IPL thickness was significantly increased at the first week and first month visits (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference between GC-IPL thickness measurements of the two groups at any follow-up time. CONCLUSION: The current study demonstrated that supplementary intracameral lidocaine 1 % did not cause more macular thickening than the intracameral sham injection during a follow-up period of 3 months. The present study also showed a tendency for a transient increase in high definition SD-OCT-based GC-IPL thickness measurements within a few months following cataract surgery under both intracameral lidocaine anesthesia and intracameral sham injection.

The prevalence of 4G/5G polymorphism of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) gene in central serous chorioretinopathy and its association with plasma PAI-1 levels.

CONTEXT: Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a poorly understood disease and the choroidal circulation abnormality induced by the plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) seems to be associated with the pathogenesis. There are many reports indicating that 4 G/5 G polymorphism of the PAI-1 gene is a risk factor for several diseases related to the elevated serum levels of PAI-1. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the 4 G/5 G polymorphism of the PAI-1 gene and its association with serum levels of PAI-1 in acute CSCR patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty CSCR patients and 50 healthy control patients were included. The PAI-1 4 G/5 G was genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction technique. Serum PAI-1 level was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Demographic data consisting of age, sex, body mass index (BMI) as well as genotype disturbances and serum PAI-1 levels were compared between the groups. Statistical significance for differences in the serum PAI-1 levels of each group with different genotypes was also analyzed. RESULTS: The CSCR group consisted of 40 male (66.7%) and 20 female (33.3%) patients with a mean age of 46.7 ± 8.39 years. The control group consisted of 32 male (64%) and 18 female (36%) healthy subjects with a mean age of 45.8 ± 8.39 years. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of age, sex and BMI. In the CSCR group the genotype frequencies were 4 G/4G: 30% (n = 18), 4G/5 G: 50% (n = 30), 5 G/5G: 20% (n = 12) and in the control group genotype frequencies were 34% (n = 17), 42% (n = 21) and 24% (n = 12), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the distribution of genotypes among the groups (chi-squared, p = 0.70). The CSCR group had a significantly higher serum PAI-1 concentration than the control group (p = 0.001). In both groups the mean plasma PAI-1 concentration did not vary significantly among the different genotypes (p > 0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Although our results demonstrated that the patients with acute CSCR have higher serum PAI-1 concentrations than the controls, no significant difference was found in the genotype disturbances of the PAI-1 gene between the groups. The current study indicates that 4 G/5 G polymorphism in the promoter of the PAI-1 gene cannot be considered a risk factor for the elevated serum PAI-1 levels and consequent development of CSCR.

Conjunctival Lymphangiectasis.

The authors report the case of a 41-year-old woman presenting with both intermittent conjunctival swelling and dilated conjunctival vessels on ocular examination in the right eye who was diagnosed as having conjunctival lymphangiectasis. This is a rare disease that occurs as the result of a connection between conjunctival lymphatic and blood vessels.

MRI-Induced Migration of Retained Metallic Foreign Body in the Eye.

A 50-year-old man presented to the out-patient clinic because of a sudden pain in his left eye just after lumbal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was started. Biomicroscopic examination of the left eye revealed the inferior anterior chamber angle including a foreign body and the superior anterior chamber angle including the iris portion, into which the foreign body had been stuck prior to the MRI examination. His history revealed an accidental penetrating eye trauma of the shotgun pellet of 28 years ago. The foreign body was easily removed using a forceps intraoperatively. The foreign body was defined as a metallic foreign body postoperatively.

Persistant Pupillary Membrane Surgery.

A 21-year-old woman presented with bilateral poor visual acuity due to the bilateral remnants of pupillary membrane in June 2007. The patient underwent excisional removal of pupillary membrane remnant in both the eyes, 1 week apart. Postoperatively, the pupillary area was completely free of any membrane remnant, no complication was observed. Visual acuities were 0.6 right eye and 0.4 left eye.

Periorbital cellulitis caused by Bacillus thuringiensis.

PURPOSE: Periorbital cellulitis is an inflammation of the lids and periorbital tissues without signs of true involvement such as proptosis or limitation of eye movement. METHODS: Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming soil bacterium with the ability to produce insecticidal crystal proteins. B thuringiensis is an extremely rare causative organism of orbital and periorbital infections. However, it was rarely seen isolated in pediatric cases with preseptal cellulites. Ocular infections of this bacteria quickly progress, within 12-48 hours from inoculation, leading to endophthalmitis or panophthalmitis and irreversible vision loss. RESULTS: Periorbital cellulitis should be recognized promptly and treated carefully. Hospitalization, prompt systemic antibiotic therapy, and careful monitoring for signs of sepsis and local invasion are critical. CONCLUSIONS: We report a rare presentation of periorbital cellulitis caused by B thuringiensis.

Conjunctival myxoma: a clinicopathologic report.

A conjunctival myxoma was identified in a specimen obtained from a 45-year-old woman via excisional biopsy. The patient presented with a slowly growing painless epibulbar mass. The paucicellular tumor included stellate and spindle-shaped cells, mast cells, and dilated lymphatic channels embedded in a loose collagenous matrix. The differential diagnosis of conjunctival myxoma should include tumors that have myxoid patterns and richly myxoid malignant neoplasms.

The risk factors of pterygium development: a hospital-based study.

We evaluated the risk factors for pterygium development in Eastern Turkey. Mean protrusion value of all eyes with pterygium (all eyes in bilateral pterygium subgroups and only eyes with pterygium in unilateral pterygium subgroup, n = 130) was 16.76 +/- 2.69 mm. In all cases pterygium occurred in the eye that had greater protrusion value suggesting greater protrusion degree might be a risk factor.

Protective effects of melatonin on oxidative-antioxidative balance and cataract formation in rats.

We investigated the effects of melatonin on cataract formation in rats exposed to selenite. We concluded that the imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants plays an important role in cataract formation and melatonin decreases cataract incidence in rats by increasing antioxidant activity.

Scleral buckling technique for longstanding inferior rhegmatogenous retinal detachments with subretinal bands.

We investigated the effectiveness and safety of conventional surgery on longstanding retinal detachments (RD) with subretinal bands (SRB). We found that conventional surgery were safe and effective method in the treatment of inferior chronic rhegmatogenous RD cases with SRB without other signs of advanced proliferative vitreopathy. Further studies with larger numbers and longer follow up are needed.

Brucellosis and uveitis.

A 30-year-old-lady, (Case 1) was found to have brucella uveitis in her left eye. Serum agglutination (SAT) and SAT/Coombs titers were positive at 1:320 and 1:160, respectively. In Case 2, a 12-year-old-girl diagnosis of left brucellosis uveitis was made. Both SAT and SAT/Coombs titers were positive at 1:1280. This report confirms that Brucellae organisms as a cause of uveitis.

Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy after pediatric and adult cataract surgery.

We evaluated neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Nd:YAG) laser posterior capsulotomy procedure with or without anesthesia in 35 pediatric eyes and 51 adult eyes. We concluded that Nd:YAG laser posterior capsulotomies in children are similar to adults in general aspects and that Nd:YAG laser capsulotomy can be performed safely and effectively in children under topical or no anesthesia.