News by Subject Medicine & Health

A team of LSU Health New Orleans researchers reports for the first time that deleting one of the inhibitors of the RPE65 gene in a mouse model that carries a human disease mutation prevents degeneration of cone photoreceptors that are used for daytime high-resolution color vision.

Is the eye a window to the brain in Sanfilippo syndrome, an untreatable form of childhood-onset dementia, Australian researchers ask in a new publication. The findings of the NHMRC-funded project, just published in international journal Acta Neuropathologica Communications, highlight the potential for using widely available retinal imaging techniques to learn more about brain disease and monitor treatment efficacy.

Researchers have identified two cell signals - Ccr5 and Cxcr6 - that are sent out by dying retinal cells to recruit stem cells and repair eye damage. When genetically engineered stem cells with an overabundance of Ccr5 and Cxcr6 cell receptors were transplanted into human and mouse models, they displayed a significantly higher rate of migration to degenerating retinal tissue, rescuing them from death and preserving their function.

A new study demonstrates that grammar is evident and widespread in a system of communication based on reciprocal, tactile interaction, thus reinforcing the notion that if one linguistic channel, such as hearing, or vision, is unavailable, structures will find another way to create formal categories.

A form of artificial intelligence designed to interpret a combination of retinal images was able to successfully identify a group of patients who were known to have Alzheimer's disease, suggesting the approach could one day be used as a predictive tool, according to an interdisciplinary study from Duke University.

In a paper published in the journal of Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, physicians from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine reported that several patients using germicidal lamps in an attempt to sanitize against the coronavirus, developed painful inflammation of the cornea, a condition called photokeratitis. These consumer-available ultraviolet (UV) emitting devices were being usedin an attempt toeliminate coronavirusfrom homes and offices.

Neuroscience researchers at UConn Health are finding genetic properties of Schwann cells in the cornea that may unlock a better understanding of their role in healing, sensory function, preserving vision, and even nerve regeneration.