Vaccines and autoimmunity during the COVID-19 pandemic

To control the pandemic, efficient vaccines must be applied to the population, including patients with autoimmune diseases. Therefore, one can expect that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines may influence the underlying autoimmune processes in these patients. Additionally, it is essential to understand whether COVID-19 vaccines would be effective, safe, and provide long-lasting immunological protection and memory. However, the currently available and approved COVID-19 vaccines turned out to be safe, effective, and reliable in patients with autoimmune inflammatory and rheumatic diseases. Furthermore, most patients said they felt safer after getting vaccinations for COVID-19 and reported enhanced overall quality of life and psychological wellbeing. In general, the COVID-19 vaccines have been highly tolerated by autoimmune patients. Such findings might comfort patients who are reluctant to use COVID-19 vaccines and assist doctors in guiding their patients into receiving vaccinations more easily and quickly.     

Cataract Surgery in HIV Seropositive Patients: Long-Term Follow-Up

Purpose: To study epidemiology and clinical findings of cataract in HIV+ patients.

Methods: A total of 32 HIV+ patients, 11 with uveitis/retinitis before surgery and 21 without, mean follow-up 44.9 ± 36.6 months, and 114 HIV- patients, 57 with uveitis/retinitis before surgery and 57 without, were retrospectively compared.

Results: Visual acuity improved in all HIV+ patients (p < 0.001), who were younger (p = 0.01) and more frequently males (p = 0.027). HIV+ patients with uveitis prior surgery improved less (p = 0.046) than HIV- (p < 0.001); their anterior chamber inflammation was similar to baseline. Male sex (p = 0.005), younger age (p < 0.001), dyslipidaemia (p = 0.058), HBV+ (p = 0.037), and unilateral cataract (p = 0.001) were more frequent in HIV+ patients with senile cataract, but they showed the same postoperative course as HIV- patients.

Conclusion: Cataract surgery in HIV+ patients is safe and effective. Uveitis prior to surgery did not significantly affect the postoperative course. Systemic comorbidities are more frequent in HIV+ patients with senile cataract than in HIV- subjects.     

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and neurological defects

Introduction and ObjectivesNonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can be considered one of the most common causes of liver disease in our days and is regarded as one of the newest vascular risk factors for cerebrovascular and other neurological diseases.Materials and methodsWe studied a group of neurological outpatients, divided into two homogenous groups based on the presence or absence of NAFLD.Results and conclusionsWe testified an independent relationship between NAFLD and common vascular risk factors (age, sex, educational level, BMI, cholesterol and lipid assessment, Hb1ac). At the same time, we ascertained an independent relationship between NAFLD and more recently recognized vascular risk factors, such as lack of folate, vitamin B12 and vitamin D-OH25, and increased levels of homocysteine. Finally, we have documented that NAFLD showed worse executive and frontal functions, and behavioral changes, such as depressive mood and anxiety, and apathy.     

Tedium vitae in stroke survivors: a comparative cross-sectional study

Objectives: Suicide is best studied by deconstructing the psychological experiences preceding suicidal death. We assessed the characteristics of tedium vitae (feeling tired of life) after first ever stroke in Nigerian survivors.

Methods: Using the Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, tedium vitae was assessed in 130 stroke survivors attending rehabilitation in a large Nigerian university hospital. Global cognitive and executive dysfunctions were evaluated, respectively, using the Mini Mental State Examination and the modi?ed Indiana University Token test. All participants had their index stroke 3 to 24 months before recruitment into the study. We also examined a comparative group of 130 age, gender, and education matched apparently normal persons who were unrelated to the stroke survivors. Associations were explored using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

Results: Tedium vitae was experienced by 16 (12.3%) stroke survivors compared with 5 (3.9%) in the comparative group (O. R = 3.5, 95% C. I = 1.3–9.9, p = 0.018). Among stroke survivors, those who were retired were more likely to experience tedium vitae (56.2%, p = 0.045). In analyses adjusting for the effect of systemic hypertension, cognitive dysfunction, retirement and marital separation, there was a 3.5-fold increase in the odds of experiencing tedium vitae after surviving a stroke (O. R = 3.5, 95% C. I = 1.1–11.6, p = 0.042).

Conclusions: Tedium vitae is a common suicidal experience after stroke and may be among the earliest perceptible pointer to impending poststroke suicide. It is easy to assess and may be less costly to obtain an adequate sample size in studies aiming to understand the phenomenon of suicide in the stroke population.     

Paradox of complex diversity: Challenges in the diagnosis and management of bacterial keratitis

Bacterial keratitis continues to be one of the leading causes of corneal blindness in the developed as well as the developing world, despite swift progress since the dawn of the “anti-biotic era”. Although, we have expeditiously developed our understanding about the different causative organisms and associated pathology leading to keratitis, extensive gaps in knowledge continue to dampen the efforts required for early and accurate diagnosis, and management in these patients, resulting in poor clinical outcomes. The ability of the causative bacteria to subdue the therapeutic challenge stems from their large genome encoding complex regulatory networks, variety of unique virulence factors, and rapid secretion of tissue damaging proteases and toxins.In this review article, we provide an overview of the established diagnostic techniques and therapeutics for keratitis caused by various bacteria. We extensively report the recent in-roads through novel tools for accurately diagnosing mono- and poly-bacterial corneal infections. Furthermore, we outline the recent progress by our groups and others in understanding the sub-cellular genomic changes that lead to antibiotic resistance in these organisms. Finally, we discuss in detail, the novel therapies and drug delivery systems in development for the efficacious management of bacterial keratitis.     

Impact and Predictors of Noncircular Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Shapes on Estimating Aortic Stenosis Severity by Means of Continuity Equations

Determining aortic stenosis (AS) severity is clinically important. Calculating aortic valve (AV) area by means of the continuity equation assumes a circular left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT). The full impact of this assumption in calculating AV area is unknown. Predictors of noncircular LVOT shape in patients with AS are undefined.In 109 adult patients with AS who underwent multiplanar transesophageal echocardiography, we calculated AV area by means of the standard continuity method and by a modified method involving planimetric LVOT area.We found 54 circular, 37 horizontal-oval, 8 vertical-oval, and 10 irregular LVOTs. Area derived by direct planimetry correlated better with the modified than the standard continuity method (r=0.89 vs r=0.85; both P=0.0001). Valve areas of patients with mild, moderate, or severe AS by planimetry were more often mischaracterized with use of the standard than modified method (29 vs 18; P <0.0001). Horizontal-oval AV area derived by planimetry (1.28 ± 0.55 cm²) was underestimated by the standard method (1.05 ± 0.47 cm²; P=0.001), but not by the modified method. Congenital AV morphology and low cardiac index were the only multivariate predictors of horizontal-oval shape. Low cardiac index was the only predictor of noncircular shape.More than half our patients with AS had noncircular LVOTs. Using the modified method reduces mischaracterizations of AS severity. Congenital AV morphology and low cardiac index predict horizontal-oval or noncircular shape. These data suggest the value of direct LVOT measurement to calculate AS severity in patients who have congenital AV or a low cardiac index.     

Poly(ortho ester) nanoparticles targeted for chronic intraocular diseases: ocular safety and localization after intravitreal injection

Treatment of posterior eye diseases is more challenging than the anterior segment ailments due to a series of anatomical barriers and physiological constraints confronted by drug delivery to the back of the eye. In recent years, concerted efforts in drug delivery have been made to prolong the residence time of drugs injected in the vitreous humor of the eye. Our previous studies demonstrated that poly(ortho ester) (POE) nanoparticles were biodegradable/biocompatible and were capable of long-term sustained release. The objective of the present study was to investigate the safety and localization of POE nanoparticles in New Zealand white rabbits and C57BL/6 mice after intravitreal administration for the treatment of chronic posterior ocular diseases. Two concentration levels of POE nanoparticles solution were chosen for intravitreal injection: 1.5?mg/ml and 10?mg/ml. Our results demonstrate that POE nanoparticles were distributed throughout the vitreous cavity by optical coherence tomography (OCT) examination 14 days post-intravitreal injection. Intraocular pressure was not changed from baseline. Inflammatory or adverse effects were undetectable by slit lamp biomicroscopy. Furthermore, we demonstrate that POE nanoparticles have negligible toxicity assessed at the cellular level evidenced by a lack of glia activation or apoptosis estimation after intravitreal injection. Collectively, POE nanoparticles are a novel and nontoxic as an ocular drug delivery system for the treatment of posterior ocular diseases.