Retinal and choroidal vascular diseases, with their associated abnormalities in vascular permeability, account for the majority of patients with vision loss in industrialized nations. VEGF is upregulated in ischemic retinopathies such as diabetes and is known to dramatically alter vascular permeability in a number of nonocular tissues via Src kinase-regulated signaling pathways. VEGF antagonist...

PURPOSE To examine the effect of several agents that either stimulate or inhibit neovascularization on plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 and urokinase in retinal pigmented epithelial cells and vascular endothelial cells. METHODS Steady-state levels of messenger RNA were assessed by Northern blots and dot blots and protein levels were assessed by immunoprecipitation. RESULTS Data indicate th...

BACKGROUND A case report of contralateral acute retinal necrosis (ARN) following herpes zoster ophthalmicus. CASE A 61-year-old male patient developed iridocyclitis and well-demarcated creamy-white retinal lesions at the nasal periphery in the right eye 1 month after herpes zoster ophthalmicus in the left eye. The patient had undergone surgery for primary lung cancer, and had subsequent intra...

Three patients in their 20s suffered from chickenpox while in an immunocompromised state: one in pregnancy, one during a long course of corticosteroid for severe nephrotic syndrome, and the third with repeated upper airway infection due to bronchiectasis. They developed acute retinal necrosis about three weeks after the onset of chickenpox. Since acute retinal necrosis threatens sight, this unu...

BACKGROUND The low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) plays an important role in the development of retinal vasculature. LRP5 loss-of-function mutations cause incomplete development of retinal vessel network in humans as well as in mice. To understand the underlying mechanism for how LRP5 mutations lead to retinal vascular abnormalities, we have determined the retinal cell ty...

PURPOSE Hyperglycemia activates several metabolic pathways, including the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway. Uridine diphosphate N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is the product of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway and the substrate for O-linked GlcNAc (O-GlcNAc) modification. This modification affects a wide range of proteins by altering their activity, cellular localization, and/or protein interac...

PURPOSE To report the diagnosis, management, and outcome of acute retinal necrosis syndrome in children. METHOD Case series of three consecutive children aged 11 years and younger who were diagnosed with acute retinal necrosis. In addition to full ocular and systemic examinations, the children underwent vitreous biopsy (Patients 1 and 2) or aqueous tap (Patient 3) for polymerase chain reactio...

Diabetes leads to vascular leakage, glial dysfunction, and neuronal apoptosis within the retina. The goal of the studies reported here was to determine the role that retinal microglial cells play in diabetic retinopathy and assess whether minocycline can decrease microglial activation and alleviate retinal complications. Immunohistochemical analyses showed that retinal microglia are activated e...

KIOM-79 is an herbal mixture of parched Puerariae radix, gingered Magnoliae cortex, Glycyrrhizae radix and Euphorbiae radix. In the present study, we determined the efficacy and possible mechanism of KIOM-79 on the advanced glycation end product (AGE)-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA)-induced apoptosis of cultured bovine retinal pericytes and rat retinal pericytes in Zucker diabetic fatty (ZD...