Spirulina is the most studied cyanobacterium species for both pharmacological applications and the food industry. The aim of the present review is to summarize the potential benefits of the use of Spirulina for improving healthcare both in space and on Earth. Regarding the first field of application, Spirulina could represent a new technology for the sustainment of long-duration manned missions to planets beyond the Lower Earth Orbit (e.g., Mars); furthermore, it could help astronauts stay healthy while exposed to a variety of stress factors that can have negative consequences even after years. As far as the second field of application, Spirulina could have an active role in various aspects of medicine, such as metabolism, oncology, ophthalmology, central and peripheral nervous systems, and nephrology. The recent findings of the capacity of Spirulina to improve stem cells mobility and to increase immune response have opened new intriguing scenarios in oncological and infectious diseases, respectively.

Over the years, microalgae have been a source of useful compounds mainly used as food and dietary supplements. Recently, microalgae have been used as a source of metabolites that can participate in the synthesis of several nanoparticles through inexpensive and environmentally friendly routes alternative to chemical synthesis. Notably, the occurrence of global health threats focused attention on the microalgae application in the medicinal field. In this review, we report the influence of secondary metabolites from marine and freshwater microalgae and cyanobacteria on the synthesis of nanoparticles that were applied as therapeutics. In addition, the use of isolated compounds on the surface of nanoparticles to combat diseases has also been addressed. Although studies have proven the beneficial effect of high-value bioproducts on microalgae and their potential in medicine, there is still room for understanding their exact role in the human body and translating lab-based research into clinical trials.

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the safety and efficacy of low-level light therapy (LLLT) and intense pulsed light (IPL) for the treatment of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD).Methods:Forty eyes of 40 patients with MGD were randomized to receive either LLLT or IPL. Four weekly sessions of LLLT (MY MASK-E, Espansione Marketing S.p.A., Bologna, Italy) and IPL (Eye-light device, Espansione Marketing S.p.A., Bologna, Italy) were performed. The following parameters were evaluated before and 2 weeks after the last session for each treatment: Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness questionnaire, noninvasive break-up time, tear meniscus height, redness score, meiboscore, and meibomian gland loss.Results:All patients completed regularly all the scheduled sessions, and no adverse events were reported in any of the groups. The Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness score significantly decreased after both LLLT and IPL (P < 0.001) although the improvement was significantly greater in the LLLT compared with the IPL group (−9.9 ± 3.2 vs. −6.75 ± 4.5; P = 0.014). Patients in the LLLT group showed a significantly higher increase in tear meniscus height compared with those in the IPL group (0.06 ± 0.10 mm vs. −0.01 ± 0.014; P = 0.040). In both groups, the noninvasive break-up time, redness score, meiboscore, and meibomian gland loss did not vary significantly after treatment (all P > 0.05).Conclusions:Both LLLT and IPL were safe and effective in improving ocular discomfort symptoms in patients with MGD; however, the former determined a greater improvement in symptoms and an improvement of tear volume.

Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disease that represents one of the most common ophthalmologic conditions encountered in everyday clinical practice. Traditional diagnostic tests for DED, such as subjective questionnaires, tear film break-up time and the Schirmer test, are often associated with poor reproducibility and reliability, which make the diagnosis, follow-up, and management of the disease challenging. New advances in imaging technologies enable objective and reproducible measurements of DED parameters, thus making the diagnosis a multimodal imaging-based process. The aim of this review is to summarize all the current and emerging diagnostic tools available for the diagnosis and monitoring of DED, such as non-invasive tear breakup time, thermography, anterior segment optical coherence tomography, meibography, interferometry, in vivo confocal microscopy, and optical quality assessment. Although there is not a gold standard imaging technique, new multi-imaging-integrated devices are precious instruments to help clinicians to better cope with the diagnostic complexity of DED.

To investigate whether diurnal changes in noninvasive ocular surface parameters and subjective symptoms occur in healthy subjects wearing face mask who were analyzed before and after 8 h of continuous use. In this prospective cross-sectional study, healthy volunteers attending the same workplace environment underwent a noninvasive ocular surface workup by means of Keratograph 5 M (Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) in the same day at 2 different time points: (i) in the early morning before wearing face mask (T0); (ii) after 8 h of continuous face mask use (T1). Noninvasive break-up time (NIBUT), tear meniscus height (TMH), ocular redness and meibomian gland dropout were measured. All subjects were asked to complete the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire before and after 8 h of face mask wearing. Data from 20 healthy subjects (10 males and 10 females, mean age 25.1 ± 3.9 years) were included. Mean value of TMH decreased significantly from 0.29 ± 0.07 at T0 to 0.23 ± 0.07 mm at T1 (P < 0.001); conversely, mean values of NIBUT, redness score and meibomian gland dropout did not change significantly after continuous face mask wearing (always P > 0.532). Concerning ocular discomfort symptoms, mean value of OSDI score worsened significantly at T1 compared to T0 (from 12.9 ± 12.6 to 19.4 ± 12.0; P = 0.017). Continuous face mask wearing for 8 h led to decreased TMH associated with the onset of ocular discomfort symptoms in young healthy subjects.