Tear fluid biomarkers in ocular and systemic disease: potential use for predictive, preventive and personalised medicine

In the field of predictive, preventive and personalised medicine, researchers are keen to identify novel and reliable ways to predict and diagnose disease, as well as to monitor patient response to therapeutic agents. In the last decade alone, the sensitivity of profiling technologies has undergone huge improvements in detection sensitivity, thus allowing quantification of minute samples, for example body fluids that were previously difficult to assay. As a consequence, there has been a huge increase in tear fluid investigation, predominantly in the field of ocular surface disease. As tears are a more accessible and less complex body fluid (than serum or plasma) and sampling is much less invasive, research is starting to focus on how disease processes affect the proteomic, lipidomic and metabolomic composition of the tear film. By determining compositional changes to tear profiles, crucial pathways in disease progression may be identified, allowing for more predictive and personalised therapy of the individual. This article will provide an overview of the various putative tear fluid biomarkers that have been identified to date, ranging from ocular surface disease and retinopathies to cancer and multiple sclerosis. Putative tear fluid biomarkers of ocular disorders, as well as the more recent field of systemic disease biomarkers, will be shown

Prevention of caries in children by preventive and operative dental care for mothers in rural Anatolia, Turkey

yavuz, izzet/0000-0001-6953-747XWOS: 000226002600002PubMed: 15841811The aim of this study was to prevent or delay the transmission of cariogenic bacteria, and hence the early development of caries in children, by preventive methods targeted at the mother. This field study was carried out in rural southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, where access to dental care is limited. Twenty-seven mother-infant pairs were followed for 2 years. The infants were between 2 and 18 months old when the study began. Mothers in the control group (n = 12) received a simple care and advice program, and those in the test group (n = 15) followed a preventive and operative regimen. The occurrence and the incremental occurrence of caries in the mothers and children in both groups were determined annually. Using a commercial kit, levels of mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in saliva and plaque were measured in the children at 6-month intervals. The microbial data demonstrated that the children of mothers in the test group had significant reductions in mutans streptococci and lactobacilli in plaque (P 0.05). After 12 months, the occurrence of caries (dfs) was significantly lower in the test group than in the control group (0.13+/-0.35 vs 1.67+/-1.30, respectively; P < 0.001). A similar difference was observed after 24 months (0.2&PLUSMN;0.56 vs 3.17&PLUSMN;1.70, respectively; P < 0.001). The results of this 2-year study demonstrate that a preventive and operative regimen designed to reduce oral bacterial levels in mothers can be remarkably effective in reducing the incidence of caries in infants in rural southeastern Anatolia. Owing to the prevalence of a traditional lifestyle based on close-knit families and clans, this region is an advantageous environment for the reduction of bacterial transmission from mother to child, while largely excluding other sources of infection for the child

Effects of frequency-doubled Nd : YAG laser trabeculoplasty on diurnal intraocular pressure variations in primary open-angle glaucoma

In order to investigate the effects of laser trabeculoplasty (LT) on diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) variations in 36 eyes of 30 cases with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in which medical treatment was terminated, the IOP curves, recorded 24 h before as well as 24 h and 72 weeks after LT were compared. Twelve weeks after LT, significant IOP decreases were observed: 36.42% in the mean IOP, 29.77% in the mean peak IOP and 50.04% in the mean pressure range, Li might therefore have beneficial effects on the diurnal IOP variations in cases with POAG