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Objective: To study the clinical characteristics and pathogenesis of intracapillary hemorrhage with adjacent peripapillary subretinal hemorrhage (IHAPSH)., Methods: A retrospective review of 8 patients with IHAPSH. The demographical data of the patients, the symptoms, initial and final visual acuities, biomicroscopic findings, fundus photographs, and the results of various special examinations, including fluoresce in angiography, B-scan ultrasonography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and CT were analyzed., Results: Fundus examination of 8 patients showed various changes of optic disc, including: a small and tilted optic disc with elevation and blurring of the nasal or superonasal edge. Hemorrhage of the optic disc was present in the cup and/or on the nasal edge, extended to the surface of the optic disc, the superficial layer of the retina and the subretinal space. Subretinal hemorrhage was located on the nasal, superior and inferior side of the optic disc. OCT examination showed an elevated optic nerve head with an enlarged nasal peripapillary subretinal space., Conclusions: In the IHAPSH patient, bleeding may originate from the posterior ciliary artery that traverse the sclera window of the disc, passes through the space between the optic nerve and the scleral canal, reaches the edge of the optic disc and the subretinal space, penetrates into the optic nerve tissues anterior to the lamina cribrosa, reaches the optic cup and extends to the surface of the optic disc, the retina or the vitreous.

Objective: Despite recent improvements in IOL design, posterior capsule opacification (PCO) remains a significant clinical problem after cataract surgery. The Perfect Capsule device (Milvella, Ltd., Epping, Australia) permits the introduction and subsequent removal of potentially toxic agents into the closed capsular bag. The present purpose was to detect the effectiveness of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) to cultured human lens cells and cells within the human capsular bag., Methods: All experiments were carried out with 2 minutes exposure to As2O3. Effect of As2O3 on FHL124 cells growth was tested by MTT. Changes in cell calcium levels induced by high concentration of As2O3 were measured by real-time fluorometric single-cell digital imaging techniques after Fura-2 incorporation. In vitro human capsular bags were also tested after a sham surgery was performed using the Perfect Capsule device to form a closed system. As2O3 (10, 30, 100, 300, 1000 µmol/L) were used with donor match-pairs treated with medium alone.(n = 3 in all cases).On-going observations were by phase-contrast microscopy. Cellular architecture was examined by fluorescence cytochemistry., Results: As2O3 of 100 µmol/L and above inhibited the growth of FHL 124 cells in a dose-dependent manner with 2 minutes exposure (t = 5.217, P < 0.01, IC(50) is 130 µmol/L) As2O3 depleted the calcium store and consequently lead to a loss of calcium signaling.Moreover, 1 × 10(4) µmol/L As2O3 had a moderate effect on the calcium influx pathway, inhibition on the amplitude and rapidity is (43.24 ± 2.98)% (t = 3.134, P < 0.01) and (46.27 ± 6.01)% (t = 3.521, P < 0.01), respectively. No cell left in the vitro human capsular bags after being treated with 1 × 10(4) µmol/L As2O3., Conclusions: As2O3 can eliminate the human lens epithelium cells remained in the capsular bag in cataract surgery, which may help to prevent PCO. The application of As2O3 to cells within the capsular bag for a 2 minute window using the Perfect Capsule system predicts this compound will have therapeutic benefit to humans in vivo.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand the awareness, prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and treatment status of people aged over 50 and living in the rural areas of Shuangcheng city, Heilongjiang province, China., Methods: Cluster sampling was used in randomly selected 5504 survey for ophthalmic clinical examination, in patients with diabetic retinopathy. A questionnaire in the state of knowledge about prevention and treatment was developed., Results: Among the 5504 persons entering in the project, 5053 were examined on their eyes (91.8%). In this selected population, 56 persons (112 eyes) were diagnosed as diabetic retinopathy (1.108%), with 95% confidence interval (CI) as: 0.819% to 1.397%. Of 56 patients, 49 cases were non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, accounting for 87.50% of the total number of patients with diabetic retinopathy; proliferative diabetic retinopathy 7 cases, accounting for 12.50% of the 112 eyes, 6.25% (7/112) having vitreous hemorrhage, 8.04% (9/112) having macular edema. For diabetic retinopathy prevalence rates, there was no significant difference in males and females. Between the per differential 10-year-old division, the difference was significant. Among the 60 to 69 group, a significantly higher prevalence rate was seen. Of the 112 eyes with diabetic retinopathy, 34 eyes (30.4%) were low vision [visual acuity < 20/60 (0.3) to ≥ 20/400 (0.05)]; 6 eyes (5.4%) were blind [visual acuity < 20/400 (0.05) to NLP]. The rate in the patients with PDR and fasting blood glucose was above 11.1 mmol/L was higher than having NPDR and fasting blood glucose below 11.1 mmol/L. Having fasting blood glucose 11.1 mmol/L and above with the course over five years among patients with PDR, the proportion of fasting blood glucose was higher than those with less than 11.1 mmol/L and diabetic retinopathy duration of less than five years. Of 56 patients with diabetic retinopathy, 38 cases (67.9%) did not receive any treatment. Among 18 cases (32.1%) with insulin or oral drug therapy, regularly using insulin or other medication (14.3%), only 1 (1.8%) case was given the treatment for diabetic retinopathy. Results from our survey showed that patients with diabetic retinopathy had a poor understanding about prevention and treatment of the disease., Conclusion: Long duration and high blood glucose in patients with diabetic retinopathy seemed to be the important risk factor. Early systematic drug use for prevention and blood glucose control was the key to prevent diabetic retinopathy. Patients with diabetic retinopathy in China had poor understanding about the prevention measures of the disease and lack of knowledge.

Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is one of the most common complications of diabetes and a major cause of blindness worldwide. We studied the transcriptome of the diabetic retina using Series Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) technology and observed a 45.6% reduction in transcript levels of glutamine synthetase (GS) in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats compared with normal rats. RT-PCR and colorimetric enzyme activity assays revealed significant differences in GS mRNA expression and enzyme activity as early as the first month of diabetes development, with a progressive decrease in GS mRNA level and enzyme activity over a 12-month period. Northern blot analysis indicated a linear correlation between the reduction in GS expression and the time course of diabetic retinopathy (r = 0.802, p < 0.0001), which was validated by real-time RT-PCR (r = 0.731, p < 0.001). Our results implicate GS as a possible biomarker for evaluating the severity of developed diabetic retinopathy over the time course of diabetes progression.

Objective: To study cytotoxic effects of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on the human lens epithelium cells and to identify the biological mechanism for these effects., Methods: In this experimental study, human lens epithelium cells (FHL124 cells) were cultured in Eagle's minimum essential medium supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum. The effects of As2O3 on FHL124 cells growth were tested by MTT, and apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay. Gene changes were detected by real-time PCR (Taqman). As2O3-induced changes in cell calcium level were measured by real-time fluorometric single-cell digital imaging techniques after Fura-2 incorporation., Results: As2O3 inhibited the growth of FHL 124 cells in vitro in a dose-dependent manner, given an IC50 value of 1.5 micromol/L. As2O3 induced apoptosis of FHL124 cells as showed by TUNEL assay. As2O3 provoked an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response identified through an up regulation of EIF2A, ERN1 and ATF6 (F = 8.51, P = 0.0005). As2O3 depleted the calcium store and consequently lead to a decrease of calcium signaling (P = 0.0018). Moreover, As2O3 had a moderate effect on the calcium influx pathway., Conclusions: As2O3 inhibits the growth and induces apoptosis of human lens epithelium cells. As2O3 provokes an ER stress which could be the cause of apoptic processes.