Robert MacLaren, Professor of Ophthalmology. assisted by Dr Thomas Edwards, Nuffield Medical Fellow, used the remotely controlled robot to lift a membrane 100th of a millimetre thick from the retina at the back of the right eye of the Revd Dr William Beaver, 70, an Associate Priest at St Mary the Virgin, Iffley, Oxford. He is the first patient ever to undergo this experimental procedure. Read the …
retina
Interim results from clinical trial demonstrate safety of cell-based therapy for retinitis pigmentosa
Regenerative medicine company jCyte and the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center at the University of California, Irvine report that their investigational therapy for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) has demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial. The cell-based approach taken is intended to rescue sick and dying retinal photoreceptor cells …
Activation of the molecular chaperone, sigma 1 receptor, preserves cone function in a murine model of inherited retinal degeneration.
Retinal degenerative diseases are major causes of untreatable blindness, and novel approaches to treatment are being sought actively. Here we explored the activation of a unique protein, sigma 1 receptor (Sig1R), in the treatment of PRC loss because of its multifaceted role in cellular survival. We used Pde6βrd10 (rd10) mice, which harbor a mutation in the rod-specific phosphodiesterase gene …
Intraocular therapy prevents or reverses diabetic retinopathy in mice
Pathologic changes of the retina caused by diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working adults. Diabetic retinopathy has no known cure, treatment options are inadequate, and prevention strategies offer limited protection. In the first of its kind, a report in The American Journal of Pathology describes a potential new intraocular treatment based on manipulating the renin angiotensin …
Retinal Remodeling And Metabolic Alterations in Human AMD
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive retinal degeneration resulting in central visual field loss, ultimately causing debilitating blindness. While many genetic and environmental risk factors are known for AMD, we currently know less about the mechanisms mediating disease progression. The goal of this article is to illustrate cell types impacted in AMD and demonstrate the …
Nerve Injury Appears to be Root of Diabetes-related Vision Loss
Diabetes-related vision loss most often is blamed on blood vessel damage in and around the retina, but new research indicates that much of that vision loss may result from nerve cell injury that occurs long before any blood vessels are damaged. After three months on a high-fat diet, the animals had developed obesity-related glucose intolerance, and by six months, they had nerve problems in the …
Solving Three Major Age-related Eye Conditions in One Go
Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is looking like more of an optical troublemaker than ever before – as well as its link with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), it also might be causing dry AMD and even age-related cataracts. Therefore, Massachusetts General Hospital researcher and paper author, Dr Alexander Marneros, is looking at what processes create VEGF-A in the eye, to …
Macular Degeneration Association Issues Urgent Supplement Warning for Patients
The Macular Degeneration Association, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing blindness, today issued an urgent warning to patients suffering from a form of the disease known as “intermediate dry age-related macular degeneration.” MDA leaders and ophthalmologists are advising patients to talk with their doctors about a proven and commonly prescribed vitamin supplement containing zinc, an ingredient …
First Human Test of Optogenetics Could Restore Sight to the Blind
Before our brains build a visual image of our world, a chain of cells in our eyes must convert light into electrical signals that are processed in the brain. Photoreceptor cells in the retina represent the first link in this chain, and they are reactive to photons, or the fundamental particle of visible light. Retinitis pigmentosa causes these cells to degenerate, and patients with this …
Scientists Successfully Apply Gene Therapy against Retinitis Pigmentosa
A collaboration between scientists in the UK and the USA has shown that gene therapy can give life-long protection to the light-sensitive photoreceptor cells responsible for colour vision in a mouse model of the most common inherited eye disorder. These findings are significant because they open up a new line of research to prevent nerve cell death in retinitis pigmentosa and age-related …