Background: Bilateral sequential cataract surgery within a short period is becoming more prevalent because of the efficiency and safety of modern cataract surgery. It has been reported that the first surgical eye might affect the contralateral eye. This study investigated the cytokines involved in the immunopathogenesis of pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions, as well as the inflammatory biomarkers in response to topical stimuli, by analyzing the cytokine profile of aqueous humor (AH) from cataract patients without these morbidities as control and with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) or high myopia (HM) in each eye at the beginning of first (defined as baseline) and second eye cataract surgery. Methods: Forty patients were recruited in this cohort study (10/group). Bilateral sequential cataract surgeries were conducted at intervals of 12.08 ± 1.2 days. Aqueous humor samples (100-200 µL/eye) were separately collected from 40 first-eyes and 40 second-eyes at the beginning of the cataract surgeries. Twenty-seven selected cytokines were detected with Luminex-multiplex immunoassay. The concentrations of cytokines in the aqueous humor and their association with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions were analyzed and compared between and within the groups. Results: Before first-eye surgery (baseline), the levels of interleukin (IL)-1ra, IL-13 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were significantly increased in PACG compared with controls. The levels of IL-13 were increased while that of IL-15 were decreased in HM. Compared with controls, 11 cytokines were significantly increased in DM. In the AH of the contralateral eye after first-eye cataract surgery, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was significantly more abundant in PACG and HM, while the levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interferon gamma-induced protein 10 (IP-10) were decreased in PACG. We also identified 6 significantly upregulated cytokines in DM compared with controls. Compared with baseline, there was an overlap of 5 altered cytokines in the AH of contralateral eyes after firsteye surgery between the four groups. Some were exclusively altered in each subgroup, with 1 in the control group, 4 cytokines in the PACG and HM groups, and none in the DM group. Conclusions: From the initial profile, it is observed that patients with pre-existing ocular or systemic conditions have some degree of inflammation in their eyes before surgery and in the contralateral eye after the first eye cataract surgery, which could be peculiar of the morbid conditions of the patients. Inflammation was more detectable in patients with type 2 DM before surgery. PACG and HM patients showed stronger intraocular inflammatory reactions to topical stimuli compared with controls and DM patients. Our data suggest that ophthalmologists should pay closer attention to inflammatory responses, especially in cataract patients with pre-existing conditions, although the clinical significance of these changes following surgery re...

Many cases of blindness are caused by age-related cataracts (ARCs). N6-methyladenosine (m6A)-modified circRNA widely participates in disease progression. However, the role of m6A modification of circRNA in ARC is unclear. We mined and elucidated the functions and mechanisms of key circRNAs with m6A modification involved in ARC progression. The GSE153722 dataset was used to mine m6A-mediated key circRNA. Loss-of-function assays and rescue assays were used to explore the effect and mechanism of circRNA on ARC cell proliferation and apoptosis. Has_circ_0007905 was a hypermethylated and upregulated expression in the ARC group relative to the control group both in vivo and in vitro. Silencing of has_circ_0007905 promoted proliferation and inhibited the apoptosis of HLE-B3 cells. METTL3 was upregulated in HLE-B3 cells after ARC modeling and had four binding sites with has_circ_0007905 and a mediated m6A modification of has_circ_0007905. Proliferation was significantly inhibited and apoptosis of HLE-B3 cells was facilitated by METTL3 overexpression, whereas these effects were prevented by has_circ_0007905 silencing. Silencing of has_circ_0007905 led to an alteration in the transcriptome landscape. Differentially expressed genes were mainly involved in immune-related processes and pathways. EIF4EBP1 overexpression promoted apoptosis and suppressed proliferation, and also significantly reversed effects of has_circ_0007905 silencing. Moreover, miR-6749-3p significantly decreased the luciferase activities of wild type plasmids with both of has_circ_0007905 and EIF4EBP1. MiR-6749-3p inhibitor blocked elevation in proliferation and reduced EIF4EBP1 expression and apoptosis conferred by has_circ_0007905 silencing. We reveal for the first time that the commitment of ARC progression is guided by METTL3/has_circ_0007905/miR-6749-3p/EIF4EBP1 axis, and the results provide new insights into ARC pathology.

Purpose This study aims to investigate the applicability of lower lid margin thickness (LLMT) measurements in adults with and without meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and keratograph. Methods This is a cross-sectional, observational study. A hundred and eight volunteers aged 20 to 79, including 68 MGD patients and 40 normal subjects, were recruited. Using OCT and keratograph to measure the LLMT from the posterior lash line to anterior edge or outer edge of the tear meniscus was separately performed two times by the same person. Results The mean age of normal and MGD subjects was 50.5 ± 14.2 years and 55.8 ± 15.5 years, respectively. The LLMT with OCT and keratograph in MGD patients was significantly greater than that in normal subjects (1.06 ± 0.27 and 1.03 ± 0.25 mm vs. 0.90 ± 0.20 and 0.86 ± 0.16 mm, respectively). In both normal and MGD subjects, the tear meniscus height and LLMT with OCT were both greater than that with keratograph (P < 0.05), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) demonstrated a good agreement in the LLMT measurements between two devices (ICC = 0.83 and 0.79, respectively). Additionally, the LLMT in MGD patients was appeared to be positively correlated with meiboscore (rs = 0.37, P = 0.002). Conclusions The OCT and keratograph were two reliable tools in the LLMT measurements, which may have potential applications for diagnosis and evaluation of MGD. Furthermore, we found that the LLMT measured by OCT was greater than that measured by keratograph.