ABSTRACT
[Abstract] Blinding eye diseases caused by retinal degeneration have a detrimental effect on human health. Mammalian retina exhibits very limited capacity for self-repair after degenerative disease or injury. In contrast, zebrafish retina possesses a robust regenerative response that regenerates all types of retinal neurons and restores vision. Retina regeneration in zebrafish depends on a type of glia cells called Müller glia. Following retinal injury, zebrafish Müller glia undergo a reprogramming process and proliferate into multipotent progenitor cells that further differentiate into newborn retinal neurons. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the field of Müller glia-based retina regeneration. Here we summarize the mechanisms governing zebrafish retina regeneration and the recent advances in mammalian Müller glia reprogramming.
ABSTRACT
In vivo electroporation of morpholinos (MOs) into the retina of adult zebrafish is an efficient method to study gene function related to retinal disease and regeneration. However, the currently reported methods are complicated with low MO transfer efficiency and high probability to cause collateral damage. The present study was aimed to optimize the existing MO electroporation methods. Two major changes were made to MO electroporation procedure in zebrafish retina. One was to coat the inner side of the electrode with ultrasonic gel. The other was to replace the commonly used round electrode with novel rectangular one. The results showed that the use of ultrasonic gel reduced collateral damage caused by retinal electroporation and simplified the experimental procedure. The rectangular electrode significantly increased transfection efficiency of MO electroporation. In particular, knocking down the expression of Ascl1a in the retina by using our method significantly inhibited the generation of retinal progenitor cells. These results suggest our method is the optimization of the current MO electroporation methods and may be a better alternative for relevant researchers.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a leading cause of morbidity in developed countries and represent a substantial burden on health-care resources. Many countries spent 15% to 20% of their hospital budgets to treat drug complications. However, few studies have measured the pharmacoeconomic effects of ADRs on hospitalized patients in China. The study estimates the costs of ADRs as identified from the spontaneous voluntary reports completed from healthcare professionals. To do so, we calculate these costs, determine the sum of Medicare payments and their proportion of total healthcare spending, and evaluate the incidence of ADRs, characteristics of hospitalized ADR patients, and outcomes of ADRs in China. METHODS: This retrospective survey studied patients who experienced ADRs during their hospitalization at a Chinese tertiary-care teaching hospital. The patients were divided into group A and group B according to general ADRs and serious ADRs in Provisions for Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring and Reporting. The direct costs included treatment fees, inspection fees, laboratory fees, materials fees, bed charges, drug charges, nursing care, meals, and other expenses and the sunk-cost losses were calculated according to the hospital information system (HIS). Indirect costs of ADR treatment were calculated according to the human capital approach. The epidemiological characteristics of ADRs were evaluated. RESULTS: 2739 were diagnosed with ADR during the study period, which translates to an ADR rate of 0.81%. The total socioeconomic loss from 2739 cases of ADR was estimated at ¥817401.69, consisting of direct costs of ¥603252.81 and indirect costs of ¥214148.88. On average, the costs per patient amounted to ¥196.10 in group A, ¥7032.29 in group B. The sum of medicare payment and proportion were ¥219061.13 (65.23%) and ¥105422.02 (39.42%) in group A and B. The ADR incidence in old-age patients was significantly higher than in other age groups (P < 0.0001). The most common drug class associated with ADRs represented antibiotics (957 patients, 34.94%). CONCLUSIONS: The costs of especially severe ADRs could not be ignored, and in this hospital 0.13% of patients were diagnosed with ADRs associated with relatively higher direct costs than who suffered from mild ADRs, largely due to extended hospitalization.
