Effects of Topically Applied Vitamin D during Corneal Wound Healing.

Vitamin D is an important regulator of immune function and largely acts to dampen chronic inflammatory events in a variety of tissues. There is also accumulating evidence that vitamin D acts to enhance initial inflammation, beneficial during both infection and wound healing, and then promotes resolution and prevention of chronic, damaging inflammation. The current study examines the effect of topical vitamin D in a mouse of model of corneal epithelial wound healing, where acute inflammation is necessary for efficient wound closure.

A unique retinal epitheliopathy is associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/Parkinsonism-Dementia complex of Guam.

Background: The aim of this work was to examine whether a linear retinal pigment epitheliopathy is associated with the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex of Guam.

Methods: A total of 918 Guamanian Chamorros, with and without amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex, were examined cross-sectionally for linear retinal pigment epitheliopathy (LRPE). Overall, 239 Guamanians, who were neurologically asymptomatic, were followed for up to 20 years to determine the risk of developing amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/parkinsonism-dementia complex.

Corneal stroma microfibrils.

Elastic tissue was first described well over a hundred years ago and has since been identified in nearly every part of the body. In this review, we examine elastic tissue in the corneal stroma with some mention of other ocular structures which have been more thoroughly described in the past. True elastic fibers consist of an elastin core surrounded by fibrillin microfibrils.

Integrin-dependent neutrophil migration in the injured mouse cornea.

As an early responder to an inflammatory stimulus, neutrophils (PMNs) must exit the vasculature and migrate through the extravascular tissue to the site of insult, which is often remote from the point of extravasation. Following a central epithelial corneal abrasion, PMNs recruited from the peripheral limbal vasculature migrate into the avascular corneal stroma. In vitro studies suggest PMN locomotion over 2-D surfaces is dependent on integrin binding while migration within 3-D matrices can be integrin-independent.

Assessment of postnatal corneal development in the C57BL/6 mouse using spectral domain optical coherence tomography and microwave-assisted histology.

The eyes of newborn mice are relatively underdeveloped and the lids remain closed for the first 2 weeks after birth. There after the eyes undergo a period of rapid growth for several weeks. Eventually the eyes reach an age at which many ocular structures stabilize for the remainder of the animal's life, or for others, growth is significantly slowed.