Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Europe: The Past and the Future

Purpose Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a frequent, complex disorder in elderly of European ancestry. Risk profiles and treatment options have changed considerably over the years, which may have affected disease prevalence and outcome. We determined the prevalence of early and late AMD in Europe from 1990 to 2013 using the European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium, and made projections for the future. Design Meta-analysis of prevalence data. Participants A total of 42 080 individuals 40 years of age and older participating in 14 population-based cohorts from 10 countries in Europe. Methods AMD was diagnosed based on fundus photographs using the Rotterdam Classification. Prevalence of early and late AMD was calculated using random-effects meta-analysis stratified for age, birth cohort, gender, geographic region, and time period of the study. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was compared between late AMD subtypes; geographic atrophy (GA) and choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Main Outcome Measures Prevalence of early and late AMD, BCVA, and number of AMD cases. Results Prevalence of early AMD increased from 3.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1%–5.0%) in those aged 55–59 years to 17.6% (95%

Virtual screening using structure-based consensus pharmacophore models and ensemble docking based on MD-generated conformations

No abstract available

Organ-Specific Metastatic Tumor Cell Adhesion and Extravasation of Colon Carcinoma Cells with Different Metastatic Potential

Adhesive and invasive characteristics appear to be crucial for organ-specific metastasis formation. Using intravital microscopy we investigated the relation between the metastatic potential of colon carcinoma cells and their adhesive and invasive behavior during early steps of metastasis within microvasculatures of rat liver, lung, intestine, skin, muscle, spleen, and kidney in vivo. Colon carcinoma cells with low (HT-29P), intermediate (KM-12C), and high (HT-29LMM, KM-12L4) metastatic potential were injected into nude or Sprague-Dawley rats. Initial interactions with host organ microvasculatures were semiquantitatively analyzed throughout 20 to 30 minutes. Circulating cells passed microvessels in all observed organs without size restriction. All cell lines showed high adhesion rates, independent from their metastatic potential, within liver and lung but very rarely in other organs. Diameters of involved microvessels were larger than diameters of adherent tumor cells. Cell extravasation of highly metastatic HT-29LMM and KM-12L4 cells into liver parenchyma was significantly higher compared to low metastatic cells (P < 0.05). Our results indicate that colon carcinoma cells can arrest in target organs without size restriction. Cell adhesion of circulating tumor cells occurred in metastatic target organs only, likely attributable to specific interactions. Migration into target organs correlated with their metastatic potential