No abstract

checkpoint inhibitor that activates CD8 + T cells may be one of the important factors that inactivated choroidal neovascularization in the present case of nAMD (Fig. 1G). Since this study was a retrospective observation of one case, a prospective study of more cases would be needed to examine the hypothesis.

Purpose: Scleritis is a potentially blinding disorder, with highly unpredictable course and outcome. We analyzed the prevalence and clinical relevance of autoantibodies and inflammatory parameters in noninfectious scleritis. Methods: Retrospective analysis of laboratory findings in all consecutive patients at the department of Ophthalmology of the Erasmus MC with non-infectious scleritis. Results: We included 81 patients with non-infectious scleritis. A systemic autoimmune disease was present in 46%. Positive anti-nuclear antibodies were found in 30%, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies were positive in 19%, and the presence of rheumatoid factor was shown in 17%. The aforementioned autoantibodies, as well as inflammatory parameters, failed to show prognostic clinical value. In contrast, anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA), found in 9% of scleritis patients, were significantly associated with the development of scleral necrosis (P = .01). Conclusions:The presence of ACPA in patients with non-infectious scleritis was associated with the development of scleral necrosis.

Tear fluid forms a potential source for biomarker identification, and can be minimal invasively collected via Schirmer strips. The lack of knowledge on the processing of Schirmer strips however complicates the analysis and between-study comparisons. We studied two different pre-processing methods, specifically the use of punches of the strip versus elution of the strip in a buffer. Tear fluid filled Schirmer strips were collected from 5 healthy participants, and divided into two halves over the length of the strip. In either part, punches or eluates were obtained from 4 different locations, from the first part touching the eye (head) to the end, to assess the protein distribution along the strips. The levels of 92 inflammatory proteins were measured in the punches/eluates using proximity extension assays. The punch method yielded higher protein detectability compared to the elution method (76% vs 66%; p ≤ 0.001). Protein expression level was found to be slightly higher in the head of the strip, however, 3 out of 5 punches from the head failed quality control. Protein expression levels over the remaining parts of the strips were similar. Our study showed beneficial use of punches of any part of the strip except the head in future biomarker research.