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Shumpei Obata,1 Tomoaki Higashiyama,1 Taku Imamura,1 Masashi Kakinoki,1 Takahide Yanagi,2 Yoshihiro Maruo,2 Masahito Ohji1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan; 2Department of Pediatrics, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, JapanCorrespondence: Shumpei ObataDepartment of Ophthalmology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Seta Tsukinowacho, Otsu, Shiga 520-2192, JapanTel +81-77-548-2276Fax +81-77-548-2279Email obata326@belle.shiga-med.ac.jpPurpose: To evaluate short-term changes in intraocular pressure after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.Patients and methods: This study was a prospective case-series. Consecutive infants underwent intravitreal injection with bevacizumab for type 1 retinopathy of prematurity at a university hospital. Intraocular pressure was measured with tonometer at baseline, at 1 min, and at 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins after injection.Results: Five patients (four boys) were enrolled in this study. Mean (± standard deviation) intraocular pressure was 8.0 ± 2.4 mmHg (range: 6–11.5 mmHg) just before the intravitreal injection, and the pressures were 19.8 ± 2.8 mmHg (16.4–23.9 mmHg), 14.6 ± 4.4 mmHg (7.6–18.4 mmHg), 11.2 ± 4.2 mmHg (6.4–16.5 mmHg), 9.3 ± 3.5 mmHg (5.8–13.2 mmHg), and 8.2 ± 1.4 mmHg (6.9–10.0 mmHg) at 1 min, 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins after the injection, respectively. Mean intraocular pressure after 1 min was significantly higher than intraocular pressure before injection (p = 0.02). Pressures decreased between 1 min and 3 mins after intravitreal injection, although there was no statistically significant difference between the pressures at those time-points. Intraocular pressures after 3, 10, 30 and 60 mins were not significantly different from the pressure before injection.Conclusion: Intraocular pressure elevation after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for neonatal infants may be mild, so there may be a limited risk due to intraocular pressure after intraocular injection of bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.Keywords: retinopathy of prematurity, intraocular pressure, bevacizumab

Tomoaki Higashiyama, Masahito Ohji Department of Ophthalmology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan Purpose: This study was performed to observe changes prospectively in exophthalmos and orbital fat in patients with inactive thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) treated with bimatoprost. Methods: In this 12-month single-treatment pilot observational study, 13 patients with inactive-phase TAO were administered bimatoprost to treat exophthalmos due to TAO. Exophthalmos values and orbital tissue volumes were measured on MRI by technicians in a masked fashion. Results: Nine orbits of nine patients (eight women, one man) were treated with bimatoprost for 12 months. Mean exophthalmos values before and after treatment were 21.7±2.2 and 21.7±2.0 mm, respectively. The mean value after 12 months of treatment was not significantly different from before treatment (P=0.82). Mean orbital fat volume before and after 12 months of treatment was 17.2±2.5 and 17.0±3.0 cm3, respectively. The corresponding total extraocular muscle volume was 4.0±0.7 and 3.8±0.9 cm3, respectively. Mean volume in each tissue type after 12 months of treatment was not significantly different from before treatment (orbital fat, P=0.70; extraocular muscles, P=0.32). Conclusion: Topical bimatoprost treatment did not reduce exophthalmos or orbital fat in this cohort of patients with inactive TAO. Keywords: bimatoprost, thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, exophthalmos, orbital fat

Tomoaki Higashiyama,1 Yasuhiro Nishida,2 Masahito Ohji1 1Department of Ophthalmology, 2Clinical Medical Education Center, Shiga University of Medical Science, Shiga, Japan Purpose: To characterize the relationship between inflammation and swelling of extraocular muscles in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy before and after methylprednisolone pulse therapy.Methods: The signal intensities and volumes of the superior rectus (SR), inferior rectus (IR), lateral rectus (LR), medial rectus (MR), and superior oblique (SO) muscles were measured with magnetic resonance imaging in 25 eyes of 25 patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy in the acute inflammatory phase before and after methylprednisolone pulse therapy. The signal intensity ratios (SIRs) of muscles and brain white matter were calculated.Result: The mean SIRs before treatment were 2.28±0.74 in SR, 2.66±0.57 in IR, 2.03±0.42 in LR, 2.45±0.49 in MR, and 1.98±0.48 in SO muscles. The mean SIRs after treatment were 1.82±0.62, 1.84±0.52, 1.70±0.35, 1.95±0.46, and 1.60±0.36, respectively. The mean volumes (cm3) before treatment were 1.35±0.67 in SR, 1.21±0.39 in IR, 0.66±0.13 in LR, 0.94±0.31 in MR, and 0.58±0.14 in SO muscles. Those after treatment were 1.12±0.45, 0.91±0.31, 0.61±0.12, 0.85±0.28, and 0.49±0.11, respectively. The SIRs showed significantly positive correlations with volumes both before and after treatment in SR muscles (before, r=0.77; after, r=0.69), IR muscles (before, r=0.65; after, r=0.60), MR muscles (before, r=0.69; after, r=0.73), and SO muscles (before, r=0.52; after, r=0.50) (P

K+/Cl- cotransporters (KCCs) are known to be crucial in the control of neuronal electrochemical Cl- gradient. However, the role of these proteins in glial cells remains largely unexplored despite a number of studies showing expression of KCC proteins in glial cells of many species. Here, we show that the Caenorhabditis elegans K+/Cl- cotransporter KCC-3 is expressed in glial-like cells and regulates the thermosensory behavior through modifying temperature-evoked activity of a thermosensory neuron. Mutations in the kcc-3 gene were isolated from a genetic screen for mutants defective in thermotaxis. KCC-3 is expressed and functions in the amphid sheath glia that ensheathes the AFD neuron, a major thermosensory neuron known to be required for thermotaxis. A genetic analysis indicated that the regulation of the thermosensory behavior by KCC-3 is mediated through AFD, and we further show that KCC-3 in the amphid sheath glia regulates the dynamics of the AFD activity. Our results show a novel mechanism by which the glial KCC-3 protein non-cell autonomously modifies the stimulus-evoked activity of a sensory neuron and highlights the functional importance of glial KCC proteins in modulating the dynamics of a neural circuitry to control an animal behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We attempted to amplify a specific region of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from fewer than ten mitochondria isolated individually by microdissection or use of an optical tweezer. We selected preliminarily isolated mitochondria from Physarum polycephalum as the model materials and tried to amplify the mtDNA region corresponding to the specific mitochondrial plasmid of this true slime mould. For separation of a few mitochondria from the mitochondrial population, we initially used a destruction method in which excluded mitochondria were disrupted by a UV laser. However, mtDNA was still amplified, although weakly, from mitochondria that had been destroyed by the UV laser. Therefore, we used an optical tweezer to trap individual mitochondria and separate them from the others. The required number of mitochondria were separated from the mitochondrial suspension through a narrow canal of isolation buffer and used directly for PCR amplification. The results showed that the mtDNA could be amplified from at least 9 mitochondria trapped by the optical tweezer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]