Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a retinal disease caused by metabolic disorders of glucose tolerance that can lead to irreversible blindness if not adequately treated. Retinal pigment epithelial cell (RPEC) dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of DR. In the present study the anti-inflammatory effect of curcumin (CUR) was investigated in RPECs damaged by high glucose levels. RPEC treated with 30 mmol/l glucose was regarded as high glucose group, and cells treated with 24.4 mmol/l mannitol was set as equivalent osmolarity group. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to measure RPEC viability, the expression of phosphorylated (p)-AKT and p-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were assessed by western blot, and secretion of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1β in the culture medium was measured by ELISA. Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by laser scanning confocal microscope. The present data indicated that, compared with mannitol treatment, high glucose treatment reduced RPEC viability, increased TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β secretion, increased ROS formation and promoted phosphorylation of AKT and mTOR. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT inhibitor LY294002 and the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin ameliorated the effects of high glucose. In addition, pretreatment with 10 µmol/l CUR reduced secretion levels of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, ROS formation and phosphorylation of AKT and mTOR. In conclusion, CUR inhibited high glucose-induced inflammatory injury in RPECs by interfering with the ROS/PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. The present study may reveal the molecular mechanism of CUR inhibition effects to high glucose-induced inflammatory injury in RPEC.

During myopia development in lens-induced guinea pigs, the increase in TGF-β2 activity of scleral desmocytes initiated at the posterior pole. Along with the induction time, the TGF-β2 activity in all scleral desmocytes became elevated. By contrast, the bFGF activity showed a general decline in all scleral desmocytes, rather than mainly in the posterior pole. These results imply that expression of TGF-β2 in scleral desmocytes plays a direct role, while that of bFGF exerts an indirect role in myopia development.

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BackgroudThe Implantable Collamer Lens (ICL) has been used widely for refractive errors, We performed this prospective randomized comparative study to compare postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) and vaults of the eyes implanted with conventional ICL and central hole ICL.MethodsThis study evaluated 44 eyes of 22 patients who underwent central hole ICL implantation in one eye and conventional ICL implantation in the other eye by randomization assignment. noncontact intraocular pressure were performed on 6 h, 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months, while ICL vaults were measured on 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 6 months.ResultsThe IOP of both eyeswithcentral hole and conventional ICLrosetemporarily during the first month after surgeries, especially on 1 day and 2 weeks points postoperatively. The IOP ofeyes with central hole ICL was higher than that of conventionl ICL. The vaults ofeyes with central hole and conventional ICL decreased slightly with time but did not significantly affect the postoperative IOP.ConclusionsDespite the sensitivity of viscoelastic agents or inflammation, this newly developed central hole ICL implantation appears to be equivalent in safty and effcacy to conventional ICL implantation for the correction of ametropia.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ChiCTR-INR-16008896. Retrospectively registered 24 July 2016.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12886-016-0375-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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