Relationship Between Legal Blindness and Depression

The higher prevalence rates of depression in visually-impaired individuals than the general population indicates that the condition per se increases the risk of depression. A person that is aware of the progressive loss of visual acuteness may have feelings of insecurity, anxiety, loss of independence and changes in social functioning, leading to depression. Several studies assessing the association between depressive symptoms and severity of vision loss have yielded inconsistent results. Some do not show any association, whereas others reported that depression severity is higher in those with substantial vision loss. The general aim of this manuscript was to determine the prevalence of depression in patients diagnosed with legal blindness in the Eye Care Service at the Hospital Córdoba between June 2016 and June 2017. The study sample consisted of 41 patients. The level of depression was assessed using the Zung scale and the degree of dependence in daily life activities was defined using the Barthel index. Data was anonymized for inclusion in a computer database and statistical confidentiality was protected. Data was analyzed using InfoStat statistical software. The results revealed a relation between legal blindness, degrees of dependency and depressive symptoms in patients of the Eye Care Service of the Hospital Córdoba. It is very important for health professionals to be trained to detect early signs and symptoms of depression and have the necessary tools for such an approach. Epub: October 1, 2019

Secretory Leukoprotease Inhibitor: A Native Antimicrobial Protein in the Innate Immune Response in a Rat Model of S. aureus Keratitis

Purpose. To describe the presence of secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI), a cationic peptide with antimicrobial and antiprotease activity in the innate immune reaction in a rat model of Staphylococcus aureus keratitis. Methods. Forty female Lewis rats were divided into 2 groups: the infectious keratitis and the epithelial defect groups. Eyes were processed for immunohistochemical studies for SLPI, interleukin-1, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and matrix metalloproteinase-8. Results. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed high levels of SLPI, IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and MMP-8 expression in eyes with S. aureus keratitis and with epithelial defects, in contrast to undetectable SLPI expression in the normal control corneas. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this paper is the first to demonstrate the presence of SLPI with increased amounts of proinflammatory cytokines in inflamed and infected corneas

Relationship Between Legal Blindness and Depression

The higher prevalence rates of depression in visually-impaired individuals than the general population indicates that the condition per se increases the risk of depression. A person that is aware of the progressive loss of visual acuteness may have feelings of insecurity, anxiety, loss of independence and changes in social functioning, leading to depression. Several studies assessing the association between depressive symptoms and severity of vision loss have yielded inconsistent results. Some do not show any association, whereas others reported that depression severity is higher in those with substantial vision loss. The general aim of this manuscript was to determine the prevalence of depression in patients diagnosed with legal blindness in the Eye Care Service at the Hospital Córdoba between June 2016 and June 2017. The study sample consisted of 41 patients. The level of depression was assessed using the Zung scale and the degree of dependence in daily life activities was defined using the Barthel index. Data was anonymized for inclusion in a computer database and statistical confidentiality was protected. Data was analyzed using InfoStat statistical software. The results revealed a relation between legal blindness, degrees of dependency and depressive symptoms in patients of the Eye Care Service of the Hospital Córdoba. It is very important for health professionals to be trained to detect early signs and symptoms of depression and have the necessary tools for such an approach. Epub: October 1, 2019

Galaxies Correlating with Ultra-high Energy Cosmic Rays

The Pierre Auger Observatory reports that 20 of the 27 highest energy cosmic rays have arrival directions within 3.2 deg of a nearby galaxy in the Veron-Cetty & Veron Catalog of Quasars and Active Galactic Nuclei (12th Ed.), with ~5 of the correlations expected by chance. In this paper we examine the correlated galaxies to gain insight into the possible UHECR sources. We find that 14 of the 21 correlated VCV galaxies are AGNs and we determine their bolometric luminosities. The remaining 7 are primarily star-forming galaxies. The bolometric luminosities of the correlated AGNs are all greater than 5 x 10^{42} erg/s, which may explain the absence of UHECRs from the Virgo region in spite of the large number of VCV galaxies in Virgo, since most of the VCV galaxies in the Virgo region are low luminosity AGNs. Interestingly, the bolometric luminosities of most of the AGNs are significantly lower than required to satisfy the minimum condition for UHECR acceleration in a continuous jet. If a UHECR-AGN correlation is substantiated with further statistics, our results lend support to the recently proposed ``giant AGN flare" mechanism for UHECR acceleration.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, to be submitted to Ap

Innate Immune Responses of Pulmonary Epithelial Cells to Burkholderia pseudomallei Infection

10.1371/journal.pone.0007308PLoS ONE410

Effect of topical fluoroquinolones on the expression of matrix metalloproteinases in the cornea

Abstract Background Matrix metalloproteinases play an important role in extracellular matrix deposition and degradation. Based on previous clinical observations of corneal perforations during topical fluoroquinolone treatment, we decided to evaluate the comparative effects of various fluoroquinolone eye drops on the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in cornea. Methods Eighty female Lewis rats were divided into two experimental groups: intact and wounded corneal epithelium. Uniform corneal epithelial defects were created in the right eye with application of 75% alcohol in the center of the tissue for 6 seconds. The treatment groups were tested as follows: 1) Tear drops: carboxymethylcellulose sodium 0.5 % (Refresh, Allergan); 2) Ciprofloxacin 0.3% (Ciloxan, Alcon); 3) Ofloxacin 0.3%(Ocuflox, Allergan); 4) Levofloxacin 0.5%(Quixin, Santen). Eye drops were administered 6 times a day for 48 hours. Rats were sacrificed at 48 hours. Immunohistochemical analysis and zymography were conducted using antibodies specific to MMPs-1, 2, 8 and 9. Results MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 expression were detected at 48 hrs in undebrided corneal epithelium groups treated with the topical fluoroquinolones. No statistical difference was observed in quantitative expression of MMPs among ciprofloxacin 0.3%, ofloxacin 0.3%, levofloxacin 0.5%. When the artificial tear group and the fluoroquinolone groups with corneal epithelial defect were compared, increased expression of MMPs was observed as a result of the wound healing process. However, the fluoroquinolone treated group exhibited high statistically significantly levels of MMPs expression. Conclusions Our study provides preliminary evidence that topical application of fluoroquinolone drugs can induce the expression of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-8 and MMP-9 in the undebrided corneal epithelium compared to artificial tear eye drops.</p