[Uveitis in multiple sclerosis : Overview and perspectives]. / Uveitis bei multipler Sklerose : Übersicht und Ausblick.

The association of uveitis and multiple sclerosis (MS) is less well known than the association between optic neuritis and MS even though MS patients suffer ten times more often from uveitis than the normal population. In this group of patients, intermediate uveitis presenting with periphlebitis and "snowbanks" or "snowballs", as well as granulomatous anterior uveitis play an important role. Simultaneous occurrence of MS and uveitis could be due to the fact that both neural and ocular tissues have the same embryological origin or could be the consequence of an immunological reaction following an Epstein-Barr virus infection. The aim is to find a drug for these patients that treats both MS and uveitis. Currently various studies with different drugs already used successfully in MS patients are under investigation for use in the treatment of uveitis. There is some evidence that interferon beta is effective in macular edema associated with uveitis. Other substances, such as daclizumab, natalizumab and fingolimod also seem to be promising.

[Precision of a new device for biometric measurements in pseudophakic eyes]. / Präzision eines neuen Biometriegeräts zur Messung pseudophaker Augen.

BACKGROUND: Biometric measurements and the knowledge of interrelationships of structures within the eye are especially mandatory for cataract and refractive surgery. As the number of pseudophakic patients steadily increases because cataract surgery becomes more easily available all over the world, exact biometry of eyes with crystalline lenses as well as pseudophakic eyes is gaining interest. In the present study we compared biometric measurements in pseudophakic eyes using a new optical low-coherence reflectometry (OLCR) device with results measured by the IOLMaster. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this prospective study 140 pseudophakic eyes from 123 adult volunteers following uneventful cataract surgery and IOL implantation were examined at the International Vision Correction Research Centre (IVCRC) at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. The aim of this study was to evaluate a functional prototype of the new LENSTAR LS 900 (Haag-Streit)/ALLEGRO BioGraph (Wavelight) biometer and the IOLMaster V.5 (Carl Zeiss Meditec) and to compare axial length (AL) and keratometry measurements with those obtained by the IOLMaster. Additionally we investigated whether the LENSTAR/BioGraph can detect anterior chamber depth (ACD) and the effective lens position (ELP) of IOLs by OLCR in pseudophakic eyes. Patients with corneal or intraocular pathology and patients who had undergone other surgery in the investigated eye or whose cataract surgery dated back less than 4 weeks were not included in the study. Measurements were repeated with both devices as recommended by the manufacturers. Results were compared using Bland-Altman plots, Passing Bablok regression analysis and Pearson correlation calculations (MedCalc version 7.3.0.1). RESULTS: Valid axial length measurements were available in 137 eyes. The mean values were 23.75 mm for both devices (SD±2.08 with the IOLMaster, ±1.7 with the LENSTAR/BioGraph). The mean corneal radius (R) was 7.7±0.27 mm (IOLMaster) vs. 7.74±0.29 mm (LENSTAR/BioGraph). Valid ACD measurements with the LENSTAR/BioGraph were achieved in 30% of all cases. In 98.6% of the eyes in which ACD was analyzed manually a mean ACD of 4.73±0.53 mm was found. CONCLUSIONS: Both devices tested in this study showed a high correlation for AL and keratometry measurements. ACD measurements performed with the LENSTAR/BioGraph showed a measurable signal but the prototype calculated a value only in the minority (30%) of cases. This study showed that on the one hand the LENSTAR/BioGraph has the potential to be a reliable and useful machine for clinical everyday routine: This space and time-saving device includes several features which make it a patient and user friendly tool for diagnostics as well as screening. On the other hand we found that the software used in the prototype could be improved especially in order to identify IOLs and to measure reliable ACD values in pseudophakic patients. IOL surfaces did not generate sufficient interference signals in the LENSTAR/BioGraph and although the light reflected by the IOL surfaces was recognized by the device the software version used in this study did not generate numerical results for ACD.

Exercise attenuates the fasting-induced transcriptional activation of metabolic genes in skeletal muscle.

Fasting elicits a progressive increase in lipid metabolism within skeletal muscle. To determine the effects of fasting on the transcriptional regulation of genes important for metabolic control in skeletal muscle composed of different fiber types, nuclei from control and fasted (24 and 72 h) rats were subjected to nuclear run-on analysis using an RT-PCR-based technique. Fasting increased (P < 0.05) transcription rate of the muscle-specific uncoupling protein-3 gene (UCP3) 14.3- to 21.1-fold in white gastrocnemius (WG; fast-twitch glycolytic) and 5.5- to 7.5-fold in red gastrocnemius (RG; fast-twitch oxidative) and plantaris (PL; mixed) muscles. No change occurred in soleus (slow-twitch oxidative) muscle. Fasting also increased transcription rate of the lipoprotein lipase (LPL), muscle carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT I), and long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCAD) genes 1.7- to 3.7-fold in WG, RG, and PL muscles. Transcription rate responses were similar after 24 and 72 h of fasting. Surprisingly, increasing metabolic demand during the initial 8 h of starvation (two 2-h bouts of treadmill running) attenuated the 24-h fasting-induced transcriptional activation of UCP3, LPL, CPT I, and LCAD in RG and PL muscles, suggesting the presence of opposing regulatory mechanisms. These data demonstrate that fasting elicits a fiber type-specific coordinate increase in the transcription rate of several genes involved in and/or required for lipid metabolism and indicate that exercise may attenuate the fasting-induced transcriptional activation of specific metabolic genes.

The H-mshi antigen is conserved among standard BALB/cBy, C57BL/6J, and wild-derived CAST/Ei and SPRET/Ei inbred strains of mice.

The recessive male sterility and histoincompatibility mutation (mshi) arose spontaneously in the standard inbred mouse strain BALB/cBy. In addition to generating sterility in homozygous males, mshi controls the loss of a minor histocompatibility antigen designated H-mshi. To determine whether the H-mshi antigen normally expressed by the BALB/cBy strain (H-mshi(c)) is the same as or different from the antigen (H-mshi(x)) expressed by the standard inbred C57BL/6J strain or the wild-derived CAST/Ei and SPRET/Ei strains, animals heterozygous for the mutant antigen-loss allele (H-mshi-) and H-mshi(x) were grafted with tail skin from BALB/cBy mice. The long-term retention of grafts by these hosts indicates that the H-mshi antigen encoded by the BALB/cBy, C57BL/6J, CAST/Ei, and SPRET/Ei strains is histogenically identical. Conservation of this minor histocompatibility antigen among these evolutionarily diverse strains suggests that H-mshi encodes a functionally important cellular product(s).

Shorn (shn): a new mutation causing hypotrichosis in the Norway rat.

We report the identification of an autosomal recessive mutation in the Norway rat that causes an almost complete absence of normal hair. The mutation, named shorn (gene symbol shn), is distinct from fuzzy, hairless, and Rowett nude, and is not closely linked with any of these markers or with albino.

Molecular genetic mapping of the mouse male sterility and histoincompatibility (mshi) mutation on proximal chromosome 10.

The recessive male sterility and histoincompatibility (mshi) mutation in the mouse generates pleiotropic effects on histocompatibility and male reproduction, while female mutants appear to be reproductively normal. We have mapped the mshi mutation to mouse Chromosome (Chr) 10 by analysis of 126 progeny from an intraspecific backcross. Our analysis both places the male sterility and histoincompatibility controlled by mshi within a 20-cM interval between the markers D10Mit51/D10Mit212 and D10Mit170 and has allowed the ordering of several other microsatellite markers on Chr 10 that were previously unresolved. The high-resolution backcross panel we describe should facilitate the isolation of more tightly linked probe sequences and, ultimately, the molecular identification of the gene or genes affected by this interesting mutation.