Milk-borne relaxin and reproductive system development

A window of opportunity for maternal programming of neonatal development is open in the first few days of life as a consequence of nursing. Colostrum (first milk) supports neonatal development by providing a conduit for delivery of milk-borne bioactive factors, exemplified by relaxin, from mother to offspring as proposed in the lactocrine hypothesis. Relaxin, a prototypical milk-borne bioactive factor, is detectable in colostrum from multiple species, including the pig. Thus, relaxin serves as a model for understanding lactocrine signals that support development of neonatal tissues

Choroidal thickness measured using swept-source optical coherence tomography is reduced in patients with type 2 diabetes

Objective To compare choroidal thickness between patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and healthy controls measured using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT). Methods The sample comprised 157 eyes of 94 T2D patients, 48 eyes of which had diabetic macular edema (DME), and 71 normal eyes of 38 healthy patients. Subfoveal (SF) choroidal thickness, and choroidal thickness at 500-µm intervals up to 2500 µm nasal and temporal from the fovea were measured using the SS-OCT. Choroidal thicknesses were compared between groups using Student’s t-test. Additionally, Pearson correlations were calculated between diabetes duration, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels, and choroidal thickness. Results Mean diabetes duration was 16.6±9.5 years, while mean glycosylated hemoglobin was 7.7 ±1.3%. Overall, the choroid was significantly thinner in T2D patients. Individuals with DME had reduced choroidal thickness in all measurements, except at 2000 and 2500-µm nasal positions, compared to healthy controls. There was a moderate correlation between choroidal thickness and HbA1c levels in DME patients (SF: r = 0.342; p = 0.017). Diabetes duration did not correlate significantly with choroidal thickness. Conclusion SS-OCT measurements revealed that the choroid was significantly thinner in T2D patients, moderate non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy patients, and DME patients than in healthy individuals. Further studies are needed to clarify the effect of diabetes on this layer and the relationship between choroidal thickness and DME

Repeatability of choroidal thickness measurements assessed with swept-source optical coherence tomography in healthy and diabetic individuals

PURPOSE: To assess the intrasession repeatability of choroidal thickness measurements obtained using swept-source optical coherence tomography in Type 2 diabetic (T2D) patients and healthy controls. METHODS: This was a single-center, prospective, observational, cross-sectional study with consecutive inclusion of 33 healthy subjects and 43 T2D patients. Subjects underwent three consecutive swept-source optical coherence tomography scans in a single session. After automatic delineation of the choroid, subfoveal choroidal thickness, and thickness at 500-µm intervals up to 2, 500 µm nasal and temporal from the fovea were measured using the software caliper by the same operator. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), coefficients of variation, and test-retest variability were calculated. RESULTS: Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness in healthy subjects and in T2D patients was 229.97 ± 79.9 and 192.67 ± 74.3 µm, respectively (P = 0.013). All intrasession intraclass correlation coefficients were higher than 0.95 and 0.99, respectively. Coefficients of variations were less than 4.4% and 1.8%, respectively. Test-retest variability ranged from 0.76 µm to 11.12 µm and 0.64 µm to 6.29 µm, respectively. No significant differences were found in the intrasession repeatability of any choroidal measurement between healthy subjects and T2D patients. CONCLUSION: Swept-source optical coherence tomography provided excellent intrasession repeatability of choroidal thickness measurements in healthy subjects and T2D patients

Comparison of visual and optical quality of monofocal versus multifocal intraocular lenses

Objective: To compare visual quality in patients implanted with Tecnis ® monofocal (ZCB00) and multifocal (ZMB00) intraocular lenses taking into account their optical quality measured in vitro with an eye model. Methods: In total, 122 patients participated in this study: 44 implanted with monofocal and 78 with multifocal intraocular lenses. Measurements of visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were performed. The optical quality of the intraocular lenses was evaluated in three image planes (distance, intermediate and near) using an eye model on a test bench. The metric considered was the area under the curve of the modulation transfer function. Results: Optical quality at the far focus of the monofocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 66.97) was considerably better than that with the multifocal lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 32.54). However, no significant differences were observed between groups at the distance-corrected visual acuity. Distance-corrected near vision was better in the multifocal (0.15 ± 0.20 logMAR) than that in the monofocal group (0.43 ± 0.21 logMAR, p < 0.001), which correlated with the better optical quality at near reached by the multifocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 29.11) in comparison with the monofocal intraocular lens (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 5.0). In intermediate vision, visual acuity was 0.28 ± 0.16 logMAR (multifocal) and 0.36 ± 0.14 logMAR (monofocal) with p = 0.014, also in good agreement with the values measured in the optical quality (area under the curve of the modulation transfer function = 10.69 (multifocal) and 8.86 (monofocal)). The contrast sensitivity was similar in almost all frequencies. Pelli–Robson was slightly better in the monofocal (1.73) than in the multifocal group (1.64; p = 0.023). Conclusion: Patients implanted with multifocal ZMB00 achieved a distance visual acuity similar to those implanted with monofocal ZCB00, but showed significantly better intermediate and near visual acuity. A correlation was found between intraocular lenses’ optical quality and patients’ visual acuity. Contrast sensitivity was very similar between the multifocal and monofocal groups

Neonatal lactocrine deficiency affects the adult porcine endometrial transcriptome at pregnancy day 13

Reproductive performance of female pigs that do not receive sufficient colostrum from birth is permanently impaired. Whether lactocrine deficiency, reflected by low serum immunoglobulin immunocrit (iCrit), affects patterns of endometrial gene expression during the periattachment period of early pregnancy is unknown. Here, objectives were to determine effects of low iCrit at birth on the adult endometrial transcriptome on pregnancy day (PxD) 13. On the first day of postnatal life, gilts were assigned to high or low iCrit groups. Adult high (n = 8) and low (n = 7) iCrit gilts were bred (PxD 0), and humanely slaughtered on PxD 13 when tissues and fluids were collected. The endometrial transcriptome was defined for each group using mRNAseq and microRNAseq. Reads were mapped to the Sus scrofa 11.1 genome build. Mature microRNAs were annotated using miRBase 21. Differential expression was defined based on fold change (≥ ±1.5). Lactocrine deficiency did not affect corpora lutea number, uterine horn length, uterine wet weight, conceptus recovery, or uterine luminal fluid estrogen content on PxD 13. However, mRNAseq revealed 1157 differentially expressed endometrial mRNAs in high versus low iCrit gilts. Differentially expressed genes had functions related to solute transport, endometrial receptivity, and immune response. Six differentially expressed endometrial microRNAs included five predicted to target 62 differentially expressed mRNAs, affecting similar biological processes. Thus, lactocrine deficiency on the first day of postnatal life can alter uterine developmental trajectory with lasting effects on endometrial responses to pregnancy as reflected at the level of the transcriptome on PxD 13

Neonatal lactocrine deficiency affects the adult porcine endometrial transcriptome at pregnancy day 13

Reproductive performance of female pigs that do not receive sufficient colostrum from birth is permanently impaired. Whether lactocrine deficiency, reflected by low serum immunoglobulin immunocrit (iCrit), affects patterns of endometrial gene expression during the periattachment period of early pregnancy is unknown. Here, objectives were to determine effects of low iCrit at birth on the adult endometrial transcriptome on pregnancy day (PxD) 13. On the first day of postnatal life, gilts were assigned to high or low iCrit groups. Adult high (n = 8) and low (n = 7) iCrit gilts were bred (PxD 0), and humanely slaughtered on PxD 13 when tissues and fluids were collected. The endometrial transcriptome was defined for each group using mRNAseq and microRNAseq. Reads were mapped to the Sus scrofa 11.1 genome build. Mature microRNAs were annotated using miRBase 21. Differential expression was defined based on fold change (≥ ±1.5). Lactocrine deficiency did not affect corpora lutea number, uterine horn length, uterine wet weight, conceptus recovery, or uterine luminal fluid estrogen content on PxD 13. However, mRNAseq revealed 1157 differentially expressed endometrial mRNAs in high versus low iCrit gilts. Differentially expressed genes had functions related to solute transport, endometrial receptivity, and immune response. Six differentially expressed endometrial microRNAs included five predicted to target 62 differentially expressed mRNAs, affecting similar biological processes. Thus, lactocrine deficiency on the first day of postnatal life can alter uterine developmental trajectory with lasting effects on endometrial responses to pregnancy as reflected at the level of the transcriptome on PxD 13

Influence of ocular biometric factors on the defocus curve in an enlarged depth-of-focus intraocular lens

Background: To assess the influence of biometric measurements on the defocus curve after the implantation of enlarged depth-of-focus (EDoF) intraocular lens (IOL). Methods: Patients who underwent cataract surgery with bilateral implantation of Tecnis Symfony IOL were enrolled. Preoperatively, axial length (AL), corneal keratometry (K), pupil size and corneal aberrations were measured. 1 month after surgery, distance, intermediate, and near visual acuities (VA) were recorded. At 3 months, monocular and binocular corrected contrast sensitivities under photopic and mesopic lighting conditions were measured with CSV-1000E test. At 6-months, the defocus curve between −5.00 to + 3.00 diopters (D) was assessed in steps of 0.50 D, and NEI-RQL-42 questionnaire was administered. Results: One hundred thirty one eyes of 66 patients were included. Binocular logMAR VA better than 0.1 for intermediate vision was obtained in 90% of patients, whereas only 17.7% obtained that result in near vision. The rate of satisfaction was high (96%) and most of them (85.5%) had no or little difficulties in near vision. The mean amplitude of the defocus curve was 2.35D ± 0.73D, and smaller AL, smaller pupils, younger age, and male sex were associated with wider range of clear vision. Conclusions: Tecnis Symfony IOL enables functional vision at all distances, but demographic variables and preoperative biometric measurements like AL and pupil size influence the postoperative amplitude of the defocus curve. These parameters could be used to predict the performance of EDoF IOLs

Activation of Penile Proadipogenic Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ with an Estrogen: Interaction with Estrogen Receptor Alpha during Postnatal Development

Exposure to the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) ligand diethylstilbesterol (DES) between neonatal days 2 to 12 induces penile adipogenesis and adult infertility in rats. The objective of this study was to investigate the in vivo interaction between DES-activated ERα and the proadipogenic transcription factor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). Transcripts for PPARs α, β, and γ and γ1a splice variant were detected in Sprague-Dawley normal rat penis with PPARγ predominating. In addition, PPARγ1b and PPARγ2 were newly induced by DES. The PPARγ transcripts were significantly upregulated with DES and reduced by antiestrogen ICI 182, 780. At the cellular level, PPARγ protein was detected in urethral transitional epithelium and stromal, endothelial, neuronal, and smooth muscular cells. Treatment with DES activated ERα and induced adipocyte differentiation in corpus cavernosum penis. Those adipocytes exhibited strong nuclear PPARγ expression. These results suggest a biological overlap between PPARγ and ERα and highlight a mechanism for endocrine disruption

Ocular related emergencies in Spain during the COVID-19 pandemic, a multicenter study

Purpose: To evaluate ophthalmological emergencies (OE) during the COVID-19 pandemic comparing them with the same period of the previous year. Methods: Retrospective observational study of all OE visits in four tertiary hospitals in Spain comparing data from March 16th to April 30th, 2020 (COVID-19 period) and the same period of 2019 (pre-COVID-19 period). Severity of the conditions was assessed following Channa et al. publication. Data on demographics, diagnosis and treatments were collected from Electronic Medical Records. Results: During lockdown, OE significantly declined by 75.18%, from 7, 730 registered in the pre-COVID-19 period to 1, 928 attended during the COVID-19 period (p < 0.001). In 2019, 23.86% of visits were classified as emergent, 59.50% as non-emergent, and 16.65% could not be determined. In 2020, the percentage of emergent visits increased up to 29.77%, non-emergent visits significantly decreased to 52.92% (p < 0.001), and 17.31% of the visits were classified as “could not determine”. During the pandemic, people aged between 45 and 65 years old represented the largest attending group (37.89%), compared to 2019, where patients over 65 years were the majority (39.80%). In 2019, most frequent diagnosis was unspecified acute conjunctivitis (11.59%), followed by vitreous degeneration (6.47%), and punctate keratitis (5.86%). During the COVID-19 period, vitreous degeneration was the first cause for consultation (9.28%), followed by unspecified acute conjunctivitis (5.63%) and punctate keratitis (5.85%). Conclusions: OE visits dropped significantly during the pandemic in Spain (75.18%), although more than half were classified as non-urgent conditions, indicating a lack of understanding of the really emergent ocular pathologies among population. © 2021, The Author(s)

Avoiding obscure topics and generalising findings produces higher impact research

Much academic research is never cited and may be rarely read, indicating wasted effort from the authors, referees and publishers. One reason that an article could be ignored is that its topic is, or appears to be, too obscure to be of wide interest, even if excellent scholarship produced it. This paper reports a word frequency analysis of 874,411 English article titles from 18 different Scopus natural, formal, life and health sciences categories 2009-2015 to assess the likelihood that research on obscure (rarely researched) topics is less cited. In all categories examined, unusual words in article titles associate with below average citation impact research. Thus, researchers considering obscure topics may wish to reconsider, generalise their study, or to choose a title that reflects the wider lessons that can be drawn. Authors should also consider including multiple concepts and purposes within their titles in order to attract a wider audience