Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
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The precise role of antibodies in corneal transplantation is ambiguous, with evidence to support as well as repudiate their involvement in graft rejection. Accordingly, this study was undertaken to investigate the direct contribution of donor-specific antibodies to corneal graft rejection. ⋯ Alloantibody, although not necessary for corneal graft rejection, can produce extensive injury to corneal allografts in a complement-dependent manner.
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Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Jan 2002
Adaptations and deficits in the vestibulo-ocular reflex after sixth nerve palsy.
The effects of paralytic strabismus on the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) have not been systematically investigated in humans. The purpose of this study was to analyze the VOR in patients with unilateral peripheral sixth nerve palsy. ⋯ In darkness, horizontal VOR gains were reduced during abduction of the paretic eye in all patients, as anticipated in sixth nerve palsy. Gains were also reduced during adduction of the paretic eye, suggesting that innervation to the medial rectus has changed. After severe palsy, vision did not increase abducting or adducting horizontal VVOR gains to normal in the paretic eye, but caused secondary increase in VVOR gains to values above unity in the nonparetic eye, when the paretic eye fixated. In mild and moderate palsy, vision enhanced the VOR in the paretic eye but caused no change in the nonparetic eye, suggesting a monocular readjustment of innervation selectively to the paretic eye. Vertical VOR and VVOR gains were normal, indicating that the lateral rectus did not have significant vertical actions through the excursions that we tested (+/-10 degrees ). Reduced torsional VOR gains in the paretic eye can be explained by the esotropia in sixth nerve palsy. Torsional VOR gain normally varies with vergence. We attribute the reduced torsional gains in the paretic eye to the mechanism that normally lowers it during convergence. The low torsional gains in the nonparetic eye may be an adaptation to reduce torsional disparity between the two eyes.
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To determine whether the Goldmann applanation tonometer can be modified to measure intraocular pressure (IOP) in the awake mouse. ⋯ The Goldmann tonometer, the standard for measuring the IOP in the human eye, was modified to measure this fundamental physiologic parameter in the awake mouse. This measurement is required to confirm success in genetically engineering a model in the powerful mouse system, which mimics elevated IOP in humans. The model will open new avenues for studying the causes of the optic neuropathy of glaucoma, the regulation of IOP, and new therapeutic approaches to prevent the irreversible loss of vision from this disease.
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Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Aug 2001
Comparative StudySensations evoked by selective mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimulation of the conjunctiva and cornea.
To study the sensations evoked by selective mechanical, chemical, and thermal stimulation of the conjunctiva and compare them with those elicited by similar stimulation of the cornea. ⋯ Sensations evoked in the cornea by selective mechanical, chemical, and heat and cold stimulation always presented an irritation component. In the conjunctiva, stimuli of the same intensity are always perceived as less irritating than in the cornea. Cold and other non-noxious subqualities of sensation can be evoked in the conjunctiva.
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Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Aug 2001
The effects of intraocular injection of interleukin-13 on endotoxin-induced uveitis in rats.
Interleukin (IL)-13 is a strong immunomodulatory cytokine that inhibits macrophages from secreting proinflammatory mediators. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of intraocular injection of IL-13 on the development of endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) in the Lewis rat. ⋯ Injection of IL-13 into the anterior chamber may inhibit the ocular inflammation induced by LPS injection by reducing intraocular cytokine and chemokine mRNA expression in ocular tissues.