editorial pathogenesis of common ocular diseases · 2019. 7. 31. · editorial pathogenesis of...

EditorialPathogenesis of Common Ocular Diseases

Jun Zhang,1 Jingsheng Tuo,2 Zhongfeng Wang,3 Aiqin Zhu,4

Anna MachaliNska,5 and Qin Long6

1Synaptic Physiology Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health,Bethesda, MD, USA2Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA3Institutes of Brain Science, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Brain Science,Fudan University, Shanghai, China4Institute of Geriatrics, Qinghai Provincial Hospital, Xining, Qinghai, China5Department of Ophthalmology and Department of Histology and Embryology, Pomeranian Medical University,Szczecin, Poland6Department of Ophthalmology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences &Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Jun Zhang; [email protected]

Received 13 December 2015; Accepted 13 December 2015

Copyright © 2015 Jun Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Themost common diseases resulting in irreversible blindnessor vision impairment include age-related macular degener-ation (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataract, anddry eye. These diseases seriously affect the quality of lifein elderly people worldwide. Therefore, understanding theirpathogenesis and the development of strategies allowingearlier detection and treatment demands more effort andattention fromboth basic and clinical fields.This issue focuseson different aspects of these diseases in elderly population.

AMD is one of the most common diseases resulting inirreversible blindness worldwide in the elderly population.Among multifactorial pathogenesis, immune dysregulationsare leading theories of AMD pathogenesis. Recently IL-17pathway was reported to be involved in AMD pathogenesis.In the original article “Responses ofMultipotent Retinal StemCells to IL-1𝛽, IL-18, or IL-17” by S. Chen et al., the authorsinvestigated the responses of multipotent retinal stem cells(RSCs), isolated frommice, to the proinflammatory signalingmolecules including IL-1𝛽, IL-18, and IL-17A. They foundthat the addition of IL-1𝛽, IL-18, or IL-17A in the culturedcell decreased RSC viability but increased pyroptotic and/ornecroptotic cells.The study is innovative andunique, because,instead of RPE19, a new cell type was used as the modelsystem. Additionally, the results fill gaps in understandingimmunological mechanism of AMD pathogenesis.

Like AMD, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are com-mon causes of blindness in older adults. Glaucoma is oftencaused by damage to the optic nerve due to an abnormallyhigh pressure in your eye, while diabetic retinopathy is adiabetes complication, caused by damage to the retinal bloodvessels. However, both of themhave no symptoms or warningsigns at early stage. Thus, it is important to have regulareye exams to measure intraocular pressure and ocular bloodflow. In the review paper “Ocular Blood Flow AutoregulationMechanisms and Methods” by X. Luo et al., the authorssummarized the methods for ocular blood flow evaluatingand discussedmechanism and treatment of ocular blood flowregulation, particular in glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Cataract is one of the major causes of visual impairmentof elderly people. Although recent bioinformatics studiesrevealed susceptibility genes, such as EPHA2, for age-relatedcataract, the mechanism underlying its pathogenesis remainselusive. In the original paper “The Polymorphisms withCataract Susceptibility Impair the EPHA2 Receptor Stabilityand Its Cytoprotective Function” by J. Yang et al., the authorsfound that EPHA2 signaling can protect the lens epithelialcells from oxidative stress-induced cell death. In the originalpaper “Epigenetic Regulation of Werner Syndrome Gene inAge-Related Cataract” by X. Zhu et al., the authors investi-gated the promotor methylation and histone medication of

Hindawi Publishing CorporationJournal of OphthalmologyVolume 2015, Article ID 734527, 2 pageshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/734527

2 Journal of Ophthalmology

Werner syndrome gene (WRN).They found that bothmRNAand protein levels of WRN were significantly decreased onlyin anterior lens capsules in age-related cataract, suggestingthat the strategies to intervene epigenetic alteration in thisdisease should aim to anterior lens capsules. By investigatingvery large cataract patient population in rural China, X. Caoet al. presented a normative ocular biometry of adult cataractpatients in rural China. They found that the axial length isnormally distributed with a positive skew and a big kurtosisand corneal astigmatism may affect rural Chinese visionacuity.

Dry eye is amultifactorial disorder of the tears and ocularsurface and is a common and often unrecognized diseaseaffecting tens of millions of individuals worldwide. Q. Longet al. evaluated the biomechanical behavior of the corneain dry eye using, for the first time, Corneal VisualizationScheimpflug Technology (CorVis ST), a new noncontacttonometry system. Their results provide insight into its fullusefulness for dry eye patients. B. Wang et al. compared dryeye disease that resulted from two refractive surgeries [small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) versus femtosecondlaser in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK)] in highmyopia.Theyfound that SMILE is a safe and successful alternative forthe correction of refractive error and may provide a moresuperior and safer refractive outcome than FS-LASIK inthe first six months following surgery. CorVis ST, the verylatest technology, has been used by J. Wang et al. to assessthe biomechanical parameters of the cornea in myopic andemmetropic eyes.

Vitreous hemorrhage (VH) is one of the ophthalmologicemergency situations. In the paper contributed by D. Y. Kimand colleagues, the authors analyzed causes and prognosis ofacute-onset preoperatively unknown origin VH in 169 eyesand found that retinal vein occlusion, retinal break, andAMDare the most common causes. In addition, aging may be animportant factor for influencing visual prognosis followingvitrectomy.

Optic neuritis is one of the common optic neuropathiesand is highly associatedwithmultiple sclerosis. In the originalpaper “Evaluation of Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer and GanglionCell Complex in Patients with Optic Neuritis or Neuromyeli-tis Optica Spectrum Disorders Using Optical CoherenceTomography in a Chinese Cohort” by G. Tian et al., theauthors reported that spectral-domain optical coherencetomography, SD-OCT, is a very useful and objective methodto evaluate the thickness of the peripapillary retinal nervefiber layer andmacular ganglion cell complex in optic neuritisand neuromyelitis optica.

Common age-related ocular diseases demand attention asa global health problem.This special issue covered pathogen-esis, diagnosis, and treatment of most of these diseases.

Jun ZhangJingsheng Tuo

Zhongfeng WangAiqin Zhu

Anna MachalińskaQin Long

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