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

Molecular phylogenetics and temporal diversification in the genus Aeromonas based on the sequences of five housekeeping genes

Several approaches have been developed to estimate both the relative and absolute rates of speciation and extinction within clades based on molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of evolutionary relationships, according to an underlying model of diversification. However, the macroevolutionary models established for eukaryotes have scarcely been used with prokaryotes. We have investigated the rate and pattern of cladogenesis in the genus Aeromonas (γ-Proteobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteria) using the sequences of five housekeeping genes and an uncorrelated relaxed-clock approach. To our knowledge, until now this analysis has never been applied to all the species described in a bacterial genus and thus opens up the possibility of establishing models of speciation from sequence data commonly used in phylogenetic studies of prokaryotes. Our results suggest that the genus Aeromonas began to diverge between 248 and 266 million years ago, exhibiting a constant divergence rate through the Phanerozoic, which could be described as a pure birth process

Financial sector development and economic growth: evidence from Cameroon

For decades, African economies have embarked on financial sector reforms. However, the empirical implications of these reforms have been divergent. This paper investigates the impact of financial development on Economic growth using time series data in Cameroon. This investigation was carried out using three common indicators of financial development (broad money, deposit/GDP and domestic credit to private sector). Using the Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) technique of estimation, it was discovered that there exist a short-run positive relationship between monetary mass (M2), government expenditure and economic growth, a short run negative relationship between bank deposits, private investment and economic growth equally exists. However in the long run, all indicators of financial development show a positive and significant impact on economic growth. This paper thus confirms the existence of a positive and long-term impact of all the indicators of financial development on economic growth through bound test. It is therefore proposed that the financial reforms in Cameroon should be pushed forward in order to boost the development of the financial sector thus an increase in its role on economic growth

Effects of a nutraceutical formulation based on the combination of antioxidants and ω-3 essential fatty acids in the expression of inflammation and immune response mediators in tears from patients with dry eye disorders

Maria D Pinazo-Durán,1,* Carmen Galbis-Estrada,1,* Sheila Pons-Vázquez,1 Jorge Cantú-Dibildox,2 Carla Marco-Ramírez,1 Javier Benítez-del-Castillo21Ophthalmic Research Unit Santiago Grisolia, Department of Surgery/Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital of Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Women, and those older than 65 years of age, are particularly susceptible to dry eye disorders (DEDs). Inflammation is clearly involved in the pathogenesis of DEDs, and there is mounting evidence on the antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPUFAs).Objective: To analyze whether a combined formulation of antioxidants and long-chain EPUFAs may improve the evolution of DEDs.Methods: We used a prospective study to address the relationship between risk factors, clinical outcomes, and expression levels of inflammation and immune response (IIR) mediators in human reflex tear samples. Participants included: (1) patients diagnosed with nonsevere DEDs (DED group [DEDG]); and (2) healthy controls (control group [CG]). Participants were randomly assigned to homogeneous subgroups according to daily oral intake (+S) or not (−NS) of antioxidants and long-chain EPUFAs for 3 months. After an interview and a systematized ophthalmic examination, reflex tears were collected simultaneously from both eyes; samples were later subjected to a multiplexed particle-based flow cytometry assay. A specific set of IIR mediators was analyzed. All data were statistically processed through the SPSS 15.0 software program.Results: Significantly higher expressions of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL6, and IL10 and significantly lower vascular endothelial growth factor expressions were found in the DEDG as compared to the CG. In the DEDG, significant negative correlations were detected between the Schirmer test and IL-1β, IL6, IL8, and vascular endothelial growth factor levels, and between the fluorescein breakup time with IL6 and IL8 levels. However, levels of IL-1β, IL6, and IL10 in tears were significantly lower in the DEDG+S versus the DEDG-NS and in the CG+S versus the CG-NS. Subjective symptoms of dry eye significantly improved in the DEDG+S versus the DEDG-NS.Conclusion: IIR mediators showed different expression patterns in DED patients, and these patterns changed in response to a combined formulation of antioxidant and EPUFAs supplementation. Our findings may be considered for future protocols integrating clinical/biochemical data to help manage DED patients.Keywords: tears, cytokines, essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, nutraceutics, aging, wome

Tear microRNA concentration in type 2 diabetes Mellitus patients

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major public health problem. Genetics of T2DM are still unsolved. Altered microRNAs expression has been connected several diseases. The goal of this study was to determine total concentration of microRNAs in tears of diabetic patients and control subjects; different concentration and possible altered expression patterns of microRNAs in tears of T2DM may contribute to the elucidation of the mechanisms of the disease.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio