No abstract

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is a growing public health concern with a high global prevalence; however, the fundamental processes involved in its pathogenic mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the present study, we applied nanoscale liquid chromatography and quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS) and ultraperformance LC/Q-TOF-MS/MS technologies on tear samples obtained from 18 dry eye patients and 19 healthy controls for integrated proteomic and metabolomic analyses. Overall, 1031 tear proteins were detected, while 190 proteins were determined to be significantly expressed in dry eye patients. Further functional analysis suggested that various biological processes were highly expressed and involved in the pathogenesis of DES, especially immune and inflammatory processes. In total, 156 named metabolites were identified, among which 34 were found to be significantly changed in dry eye patients. The results highlighted the key elements, especially inflammatory-related proteins and metabolites that played important roles in the development of DES. Further, the regulatory roles of primary pathways, including complement and coagulation cascades, glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and amino acid metabolism, were also identified as processes involved in DES. Collectively, our work not only provided insight into the potential biomarkers of DES for diagnostic and prognostic purposes but extended our knowledge of the physiopathology of this syndrome.

Objective To investigate whether there are differences inmacular vascular density (VD) between patients with high-myopia (HM) and those with non-high myopia (NHM) using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). Method OCTA was performed on 35 eyes with HM with spherical equivalence (SE) > − 6.00D and 35 eyes with NHM with SE ≤ -6.00D. Vascular densities of the macula (overall macula, fovea, parafovea, superior hemi and inferior hemi) were measured in each of the superficial, deep and choriocapillaris layers of the retina. Results In the superficial retinal layer, overall macular VFD was significantly higher in the NHM compared to the HM group (51.27 ± 3.74 vs. 48.07 ± 5.69, p < 0.05). There were significant differences between the NHM and HM in parafovea (52.58 ± 5.78 vs. 49.4 ± 6.43, p < 0.05), superior-hemi (53.38 ± 4.03 vs 49.78 ± 6.84, p < 0.05) and inferior-hemi regions (53.49 ± 4.61 vs 49.05 ± 6.41, p < 0.05), but not in the fovea region. Similarly, in the deep retinal layer, overall macular VFD was significantly higher in the NHM group compared to the HM group (58.69 ± 2.46 vs. 56.90 ± 4.08, p < 0.05). There was significant differences between the HM and NHM in superior-hemi region (61.97 ± 2.68 vs. 60.08 ± 3.98, p < 0.05), but not in the fovea, parafovea, and inferior-hemi region. In the choriocapillaris, there was no difference in the overall macular VFD, nor any of the individual sectors between the HM and the NHM groups. Conclusion VFD in the superficial and deep retinal layers of the macula are significantly increased in the NHM compared to HM eyes. This is not the case in the choroidal capillary layers of the retina.

AIM: To find out the pathogenesis of dry eye disease (DED) and the possible mechanisms of available effective treatments. METHODS: A non-targeted technology, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS), to investigate metabolic characterizations for tear samples from 18 patients with DED upon drug or acupuncture treatment. RESULTS: A total of 190 named metabolites were identified, which presented so far the broadest tear metabolome. Further analysis indicated a significantly distinct metabolomics profile among all patients, but very subtle metabolic differences upon drug or acupuncture treatment. On one hand, only six significantly changed metabolites were determined after drug treatment, five of which including inosine, monopalmitin, urate, propionylcarnitine, and nicotinamide were all increased and involved in inflammatory responses. On the other hand, merely four metabolites including alanine, serine, and homoserine were found to be significantly different. Further pathway analysis of those six and four significantly changed metabolites revealed that only one pathway, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis was significantly influenced in acupuncture-treated patients, which were highly associated with the cause of the disease. The results here indicated acupuncture treatment may address the cause rather than the symptoms for dry eye disease, displaying partially better compared with drug treatment. CONCLUSION: Collectively, this work extended our understanding on the key regulatory elements or pathways involved in the potential mechanisms of available effective treatments, and would be useful for providing novel potential targets and therapeutic strategies for DED.

Objective: To investigate whether there are differences in macular vascular density (VD) between patients with high-myopia (HM) and those with non-high myopia (NHM) using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA).Method: OCTA was performed on 35 eyes with HM with spherical equivalence (SE) >-6.00D and 35 eyes with NHM with SE £-6.00D. Vascular densities of the macula (overall macula, fovea, parafovea, superior hemi and inferior hemi) were measured in each of the superficial, deep and choriocapillaris layers of the retina. Results: In the superficial retinal layer, overall macular VFD was significantly higher in the NHM compared to the HM group (51.27±3.74 vs. 48.07±5.69, p<0.05). There were significant differences between the NHM and HM in parafovea (52.58±5.78 vs. 49.4 ±6.43, p<0.05), superior-hemi (53.38±4.03 vs 49.78±6.84, p<0.05) and inferior-hemi regions (53.49±4.61 vs 49.05±6.41, p<0.05), but not in the fovea region. Similarly, in the deep retinal layer, overall macular VFD was significantly higher in the NHM group compared to the HM group (58.69±2.46 vs. 56.90±4.08, p<0.05). There was significant differences between the HM and NHM in superior-hemi region (61.97±2.68 vs. 60.08±3.98, p<0.05), but not in the fovea, parafovea, and inferior-hemi region. In the choriocapillaris, there was no difference in the overall macular VFD, nor any of the individual sectors between the HM and the NHM groups. Conclusion: VFD in the superficial and deep retinal layers of the macula are significantly increased in the NHM compared to HM eyes. This is not the case in the choroidal capillary layers of the retina.