Antioxidant agents in the treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy

PURPOSE: To report the effect of antioxidant agents in the treatment of mild and moderately severe Graves' ophthalmopathy. METHODS: Prospective, nonrandomized, comparative study performed at a referral center. A series of 11 patients with mild or moderately severe, active, newly diagnosed Graves' ophthalmopathy were included in the study. Allopurinol (300 mg daily) orally and nicotinamide (300 mg daily) orally were used for 3 months. A complete ophthalmologic examination was performed before and 1 and 3 months after initiation of treatment. The response to treatment was estimated separately for each component of the disease and overall by its effect on a total eye score. Eleven patients with mild or moderately severe, active, newly diagnosed Graves' ophthalmopathy who received placebo were also examined at the same time points. Patients in each group were recruited consecutively. Although nonsmoking was not an exclusion criterion, all patients were cigarette smokers. RESULTS: Nine (82%) of 11 patients treated with oral antioxidants showed improvement of mild to moderately severe Graves' ophthalmopathy versus three (27%) of 11 patients in the control group (P < .05). Soft tissue inflammation was the component of the disease that responded more to treatment. No side effects of antioxidant treatment were recorded. Patients' satisfaction was high. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study presents encouraging results in the treatment of mild and moderately severe Graves' ophthalmopathy with antioxidant agents. To evaluate these preliminary results, randomized prospec-tive studies are needed. Copyright (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc

Ophthalmologic findings in cerebrofaciothoracic dysplasia

We describe the ophthalmologic findings in two cases of Cerebrofaciothoracic dysplasia, a rare syndrome characterized by facial dysmorphism, multiple malformations of the vertebrae and ribs, and significant mental retardation. Both affected individuals are members of the same family and have epicanthal folds and hypertelorism. In addition, one patient has bilateral bull's eye maculopathy, which may represent an additional severe manifestation of Cerebrofaciothoracic dysplasia syndrome

An Improved Biomimetic Formal Synthesis of Abyssomicin C and atrop-Abyssomicin C

Biomimetic approaches towards the synthesis of abysssomicin C and atrop-abyssomicin C are based on a powerful intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction (IMDA) of a butenolide derivative attached to a keto-triene side chain, where the stereogenic centers and the carbon framework are established in one step. The synthesis of the IMDA precursor is based on an ionic coupling of methyl γ-methylene-β-tetronate with various aldehydes. However, the low yields of the coupling and the high sensitivity of the precursor hampered the efficiency of the developed routes and should be met. In the present work, a modified aldehyde is coupled with methyl γ-methylene-β-tetronate, in a substantially higher yield. Asymmetric synthesis of this aldehyde is based on the use of the widely available and cheap Amano lipase AK. In addition, the development of a highly convenient one-pot oxidation-IMDA reaction protocol obviates the isolation of the sensitive IMDA-precursor and augments the yield towards the carbocyclic skeleton of abysssomicin C and atrop-abyssomicin C. © 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinhei