PURPOSE To determine the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF), NGF mRNA, and NGF receptor (TrkA) in rabbit ocular tissues, and whether changes occur in NGF and NGF mRNA levels after experimental iridectomy. METHODS Immunohistochemistry for NGF and TrkA and in situ hybridization for NGF mRNA were performed on rabbit cornea, iris, ciliary body, and lens in the basal state. Quantification of NG...

Both the basal body and the microtubule-based axoneme it nucleates have evolutionarily conserved subdomains crucial for cilium biogenesis, function and maintenance. Here, we focus on two conspicuous but underappreciated regions of these structures that make membrane connections. One is the basal body distal end, which includes transition fibres of largely undefined composition that link to the ...

PURPOSE Because presbyopia is thought to be accompanied by increased lens sclerosis this study was conducted to investigate whether refilling the capsule of the presbyopic human lens with a soft polymer would restore the ability of the lens to undergo accommodative changes. METHODS Accommodative forces were applied to natural and refilled lenses by circumferential stretching through the cilia...

PURPOSE To isolate and characterize progenitor cells derived from adult mammalian ciliary body. METHODS The authors isolated progenitor cells from the ciliary body of adult mice, rats, and human cadaver eyes and determined quantitative growth characteristics of groups of progenitor cells called neurosphere (NS) cells, including individual cell diameter, NS diameter, percentage of NS-forming c...

Making the correct diagnosis of an iris–ciliary body tumor can be challenging. A 35-year-old woman sought care because of a growing amelanotic lesion that destroyed the iris root and produced a large ciliary body mass. She had a history of systemic lupus erythematosus. The tumor was completely removed with an iridocyclectomy, which revealed that the plasma cells had been producing a large amoun...

The eye’s uveal tract consists of the iris, ciliary body, and choroid. It contains a population of melanocytes. Uveal melanomas develop from melanocytes that reside within the stroma of the choroid, ciliary body or iris. The choroid is the vascular part of the human eye between retina and sclera. Though accurate measurements of the choroidal blood flow is difficult, it is known that choroid is ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To report outcomes and toxicity after proton beam radiotherapy for non-peripapillary choroidal and ciliary body melanoma considered unsuitable for other eye-sparing therapies. MATERIALS AND METHODS An existing database of 77 patients with non-peripapillary tumors treated at TRIUMF, Canada, including patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics, was updated with ocular ...

Background/aim: Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) is an important tool for assessing anterior segment pathology. This study sought to evaluate UBM in the management of anterior segment tumours. Methods: Retrospective analysis of medical records of consecutive patients referred to the ocular oncology unit, University of California San Francisco (UCSF), for suspected anterior segment tumours from 19...

Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) in the uveal tract participate in ocular immunity including immune homeostasis and the pathogenesis of uveitis. In horses, although uveitis is the most common ocular disorder, little is known about ocular immunity, such as the distribution of APCs. In this study, we investigated the distribution of CD163-positive and MHC II-positive cells in the normal equine uve...

ntraocular medulloepithelioma is an uncommon embryogenic neoplasm of neuroepithelial origin that usually develops from the nonpigmented epithelium of the ciliary body, retina, and optic nerve.1 Clinically, medulloepithelioma usually appears as a tumor of the ciliary body; only rarely does it arise in the optic nerve and retina. It frequently occurs on the ciliary body of a young child as a fles...