Doença de Charcot-Marie-Tooth e esclerite posterior: relato de caso

Purpose: To describe the unusual association of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMTD) and posterior scleritis. Methods: Case report of a 16-year-old female with decreased visual acuity and pain in both eyes. Results: Ophthalmologic examination showed a posterior scleritis, confirmed by ultrasound and angiofluoresceinography. Foot deformities and sensory dysfunction were identified in the patient and some of her relatives. The diagnosis of CMTD in this patient was confirmed by eletrophysiologic studies. Conclusions: The association of posterior scleritis in a patient with CMTD has never been reported. This is also the first description of an inflammatory ocular disease in these patients.Objetivo: Descrever a associação entre doença de Charcot-Marie-Tooth (DCMT) e esclerite posterior. Metodologia: Relato de caso de uma paciente do sexo feminino, 16 anos de idade, com baixa de acuidade visual e dor em ambos os olhos. Resultados: O exame oftalmológico revelou esclerite posterior, observada também por ultra-som e angiofluoresceinografia. Deformidades de pernas e pés foram identificadas na paciente e em seus familiares. O diagnóstico de DCMT na paciente estudada foi confirmado por estudos eletrofisiológicos. Conclusões: A presença de esclerite posterior em paciente com DCMT não é descrita na literatura, não se encontrando também relatos de outras doenças oculares inflamatórias, nestes pacientes.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) Department of OphthalmologyUNIFESP, EPM, Department of OphthalmologySciEL

The role of c-kit and imatinib mesylate in uveal melanoma

BACKGROUND: Uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common primary intraocular tumor in adults, leading to metastasis in 40% of the cases and ultimately to death in 10 years, despite local and/or systemic treatment. The c-kit protein (CD117) is a membrane-bound tyrosine kinase receptor and its overexpression has been observed in several neoplasms. Imatinib mesylate is a FDA approved compound that inhibits tyrosine quinase receptors, as well as c-kit. Imatinib mesylate controls tumor growth in up to 85% of advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors, a neoplasia resistant to conventional therapy. METHODS: Fifty-five specimens of primary UM selected from the archives of the Ocular Pathology Laboratory, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, were immunostained for c-kit. All cells displaying distinct immunoreactivity were considered positive. Four human UM cell lines and 1 human uveal transformed melanocyte cell line were tested for in vitro proliferation Assays (TOX-6) and invasion assay with imatinib mesylate (concentration of 10 μM). RESULTS: The c-kit expression was positive in 78.2% of the UM. There was a statistical significant decrease in the proliferation and invasion rates of all 5 cell lines. CONCLUSION: The majority of UM expressed c-kit, and imatinib mesylate does decrease the proliferation and invasion rates of human UM cell lines. These results justify the need for a clinical trial to investigate in vivo the response of UM to imatinib mesylate

Recently Acquired Toxoplasma gondii Infection, Brazil

Soil exposure, eating undercooked meat, and having children are risk factors for acute infection and high rate of eye disease

Promover os direitos das crianças - apostar na construção de melhores políticas públicas para a criança

Comunicação apresentada no 3º Encontro de Conhecimento e Cooperação, INA, Lisboa, 17 de setembro de 201

Pathological mitophagy disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), a disease associated with a mitochondrial DNA mutation, is characterized by blindness due to degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons, which form the optic nerve. We show that a sustained pathological autophagy and compartment-specific mitophagy activity affects LHON patient-derived cells and cybrids, as well as induced pluripotent-stem-cell-derived neurons. This is variably counterbalanced by compensatory mitobiogenesis. The aberrant quality control disrupts mitochondrial homeostasis as reflected by defective bioenergetics and excessive reactive oxygen species production, a stress phenotype that ultimately challenges cell viability by increasing the rate of apoptosis. We counteract this pathological mechanism by using autophagy regulators (clozapine and chloroquine) and redox modulators (idebenone), as well as genetically activating mitochondrial biogenesis (PGC1-α overexpression). This study substantially advances our understanding of LHON pathophysiology, providing an integrated paradigm for pathogenesis of mitochondrial diseases and druggable targets for therapy

Proceedings of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and Champalimaud Foundation Ocular Oncogenesis and Oncology Conference

Ophthalmic researc