Treatment chronic macular edema in Vogt-Koyanagi Harada syndrome with dexamethasone intravitreal implant: description of three case

Purpose: To report our experience with dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex, DEX implant) in the chronic cystic macular edema (ME )with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) Syndrome. Method: A retrospective chart review of three patients with (VKH) treated with sustained-release dexamethasone 0.7 mg intravitreal implant was performed.Complete ophthalmic examination included: best corrected visual acuity; ocular tonometry, were also evaluated signs of inflammatory activity of the anterior segment with biomicroscopy slit-lamp, and posterior segment with fundus biomiocrosopy, fundus photography and fluorescein angiography; measurement of macular morphology and thickness, optical with coherence tomography; and tolerability of the implant. Mean follow-up time post-injection was 6 months. All three eyes received 1Ozurdex implants during the follow-up period. The duration of effect of the implant was 4 to 6 months. No serious ocular or systemic adverse events were noted during the follow-up period. Results: In all three eyes, were observed a remarkable decrease ME, in angiographic and OCT , following placement intravitreal DEX implant Conclusions: The DEX implant 0.7 mg may be an effective treatment option for reduction ME in VGT, met the primary efficacy endpoint for improvement in visual acuity (VA) and safety profile was also acceptabl

Computer use and onset of myopia in children: a systematic review

Background: The aim of this study is to systematically review the scientific literature about the relationship between computer use and onset of myopia in children. Methods: The search was conducted using Medline and Scopus databases. For each database, we used the following query: "Children AND Myopia AND Computer". 15 observational studies were considered suitable: 11 cross-sectional studies, 3 cohort studies and one longitudinal study. Results: There is no significant evidence in scientific literature about the association between computer use and juvenile myopia. Conclusions: More comprehensive and multicenter studies would be opportune, given the importance of computer use as a risk factor in the development of juvenile myopia

Urrets- zavalia syndrome after glaucoma filtration device implantation

We report a case of Urrets-Zavalia Syndrome after a glaucoma filtration device (g.f.d.) implantation. A 74-year-old woman with bilateral advanced glaucoma has been planned for surgery. The patient underwent to g.f.d. implantation in the right eye. On postoperative day 1, the patient had an edematous cornea with a dilated and non reactive pupil. In this article we describe the clinical history of this patient. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Urrets-Zavalia Syndrome after a g.f.d. implantation

Association between smoking and uveal melanoma: a systematic review

Background: The aim of this study is systematically review the scientific literature on the relationship between tobacco smoking exposure and UM. Methods: The search was performed on Medline and Scopus databases. For each database, we used the following query: “smok* AND (eye OR uveal) melanoma”. Results: 3 observational studies were considered suitable, two case-control studies and one cohort study. There is no significant evidence in the scientific literature about the association between smoking and UM. Conclusions: More complete and multi-center studies are desirable, giving the importance of smoking as a risk factor in the development of cancers

Targeting Monoamine Oxidases with Multipotent Ligands: An Emerging Strategy in the Search of New Drugs Against Neurodegenerative Diseases

The socioeconomic burden of multi-factorial pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), is enormous worldwide. Unfortunately, no proven disease-modifying therapy is available yet and in most cases (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease) the approved drugs exert only palliative and symptomatic effects. Nowadays, an emerging strategy for the discovery of disease-modifying drugs is based on the multi-target directed ligand (MTDL) design, an innovative shift from the traditional approach one-drug-one-target to the more ambitious one-drug-more-targets goal. Herein, we review the discovery strategy, the mechanism of action and the biopharmacological evaluation of multipotent ligands exhibiting monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition as the core activity with a potential for the treatment of NDs. In particular, MAO inhibitors exhibiting additional acetylcholinesterase (AChE) or nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition, or ion chelation/antioxidant-radical scavenging/anti-inflammatory/A2A receptor antagonist/APP processing modulating activities have been thoroughly examined

1,3-Dialkyl-8-(hetero)aryl-9-OH-9-deazaxanthines as potent A2B adenosine receptor antagonists: design, synthesis, structure-affinity and structure-selectivity relationships

A number of 1,3-dialkyl-8-(hetero)aryl-9-OH-9-deazaxanthines were prepared and evaluated as ligands of recombinant human adenosine receptors (hARs). Several 1,3-dipropyl derivatives endowed with nanomolar binding affinity at hA2B receptors, but poor selectivity over hA2A, hA1 and hA3 AR subtypes were identified. A comparison with the corresponding 7-OH- and 7,9-unsubstituted-deazaxanthines revealed that 9-OH-9-deazaxanthines are more potent hA2B ligands with lower partition coefficients and higher water solubility compared to the other two congeneric classes of deazaxanthines. An optimization of the para-substituent of the 8-phenyl ring of 9-OH-9-deazaxanthines led to the discovery of compound 38, which exhibited outstanding hA2B affinity (Ki = 1.0 nM), good selectivity over hA2A, hA1 and hA3 (selectivity indices = 100, 79 and 1290, respectively) and excellent antagonist potency in a functional assay on rat A2B (pA2B = 9.33)

Mannich base approach to 5-methoxyisatin 3-(4-isopropylphenyl) hydrazone: a water-soluble prodrug for a multitarget inhibition of cholinesterases, beta-amyloid fibrillization and oligomer-induced cytotoxicity

Targeting protein aggregation for the therapy of neurodegenerative diseases remains elusive for medicinal chemists, despite a number of small molecules known to interfere in amyloidogenesis, particularly of amyloid beta (Aβ) protein. Starting from previous findings in the antiaggregating activity of a class of indolin-2-ones inhibiting Aβ fibrillization, 5-methoxyisatin 3-(4-isopropylphenyl)hydrazone 1 was identified as a multitarget inhibitor of Aβ aggregation and cholinesterases with IC50s in the low μM range. With the aim of increasing aqueous solubility, a Mannich-base functionalization led to the synthesis of N-methylpiperazine derivative 2. At acidic pH, an outstanding solubility increase of 2 over the parent compound 1 was proved through a turbidimetric method. HPLC analysis revealed an improved stability of the Mannich base 2 at pH 2 along with a rapid release of 1 in human serum as well as an outstanding hydrolytic stability of the parent hydrazone. Coincubation of Aβ1–42 with 2 resulted in the accumulation of low MW oligomers, as detected with PICUP assay. Cell assays on SH-SY5Y cells revealed that 2 exerts strong cytoprotective effects in both cell viability and radical quenching assays, mainly related to its active metabolite 1. These findings show that 2 drives the formation of non-toxic, off-pathway Aβ oligomers unable to trigger the amyloid cascade and toxicity