A Limited Role for Suppression in the Central Field of Individuals with Strabismic Amblyopia.

yesBackground: Although their eyes are pointing in different directions, people with long-standing strabismic amblyopia typically do not experience double-vision or indeed any visual symptoms arising from their condition. It is generally believed that the phenomenon of suppression plays a major role in dealing with the consequences of amblyopia and strabismus, by preventing images from the weaker/deviating eye from reaching conscious awareness. Suppression is thus a highly sophisticated coping mechanism. Although suppression has been studied for over 100 years the literature is equivocal in relation to the extent of the retina that is suppressed, though the method used to investigate suppression is crucial to the outcome. There is growing evidence that some measurement methods lead to artefactual claims that suppression exists when it does not. Methodology/Results: Here we present the results of an experiment conducted with a new method to examine the prevalence, depth and extent of suppression in ten individuals with strabismic amblyopia. Seven subjects (70%) showed no evidence whatsoever for suppression and in the three individuals who did (30%), the depth and extent of suppression was small. Conclusions: Suppression may play a much smaller role in dealing with the negative consequences of strabismic amblyopia than previously thought. Whereas recent claims of this nature have been made only in those with micro-strabismus our results show extremely limited evidence for suppression across the central visual field in strabismic amblyopes more generally. Instead of suppressing the image from the weaker/deviating eye, we suggest the visual system of individuals with strabismic amblyopia may act to maximise the possibilities for binocular co-operation. This is consistent with recent evidence from strabismic and amblyopic individuals that their binocular mechanisms are intact, and that, just as in visual normals, performance with two eyes is better than with the better eye alone in these individuals

Assessing treatment outcomes in multiple sclerosis trials and in the clinical setting

Increasing numbers of drugs are being developed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Measurement of relevant outcomes is key for assessing the efficacy of new drugs in clinical trials and for monitoring responses to disease-modifying drugs in individual patients. Most outcomes used in trial and clinical settings reflect either clinical or neuroimaging aspects of MS (such as relapse and accrual of disability or the presence of visible inflammation and brain tissue loss, respectively). However, most measures employed in clinical trials to assess treatment effects are not used in routine practice. In clinical trials, the appropriate choice of outcome measures is crucial because the results determine whether a drug is considered effective and therefore worthy of further development; in the clinic, outcome measures can guide treatment decisions, such as choosing a first-line disease-modifying drug or escalating to second-line treatment. This Review discusses clinical, neuroimaging and composite outcome measures for MS, including patient-reported outcome measures, used in both trials and the clinical setting. Its aim is to help clinicians and researchers navigate through the multiple options encountered when choosing an outcome measure. Barriers and limitations that need to be overcome to translate trial outcome measures into the clinical setting are also discussed

Cirsimarin, a potent antilipogenic flavonoid, decreases fat deposition in mice intra-abdominal adipose tissue

International audienceOBJECTIVE: We previously reported that the flavonoid cirsimarin exerts in vitro a strong lipolytic activity on isolated adipocytes. This study was therefore designed to evaluate in vivo the effects of cirsimarin on white adipose tissue (WAT) accretion in mice. METHODS: Male CD1 mice were injected daily with either vehicle (intraperitoneal (i.p.)) or cirsimarin (25 or 50 mg kg(-1) per day, i.p.) for 18 days. Mice were killed and fat pads weighted. Epididymal fat pads were used for cellularity measurement. Effects of cirsimarin treatment on lipolysis and lipogenesis in WAT were assessed. RESULTS: Mice treated with 25 or 50 mg kg(-1) per day cirsimarin showed a decrease in retroperitoneal (-29 and -37% respectively, P<0.005) and epididymal (-25 and -28% respectively, P<0.005) fat pad weights compared with controls. This effect was restricted to intra-abdominal WAT as no difference was noticed for subcutaneous inguinal WAT. The decrease in intra-abdominal WAT accretion was due to a decrease in adipose cell diameter (-5 and -8% for 25 and 50 mg kg(-1) per day cirsimarin, respectively) resulting in a 14 and 35% decrease in adipose cell volume while no change was noticed in total adipocyte number. Direct injection of cirsimarin (50 mg kg(-1)) to rats did not trigger lipolysis. In contrast, cirsimarin showed in vivo as well as in vitro a strong antilipogenic activity, which may be the critical aspect of its effects on fat accretion in mice. The inhibitory concentration 50% of cirsimarin on lipogenic activity in isolated adipocytes was found to be 1.28$\pm$0.04 μM. Cirsimarin given orally reduced intra-abdominal fat accretion in mice. CONCLUSION: Cirsimarin exerts potent antilipogenic effect and decreases adipose tissue deposition in mice. Cirsimarin could therefore be a potential candidate for the treatment of obesity