http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Vision scientists long have thought that lack of very long chain fatty acids in photoreceptor cells caused blindness in children with Stargardt type 3 retinal degeneration, an incurable eye disease. But researchers at the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center have shown in a new study that lack of these fatty acids does not cause blindness, meaning that the search for the mechanism that robs sight from children with the disease must start anew. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-long-suspected-eye-disease.html Ophthalmology Mon, 11 Mar 2013 17:02:40 EST news282240153 Research led by Minghao Jin, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence, has found a protein that protects retinal photoreceptor cells from degeneration caused by light damage. This protein may provide a new therapeutic target for both an inherited retinal degenerative disease and age-related macular degeneration. The paper is published in the February 13, 2013 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-protein-light-induced-retinal-degeneration.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Feb 2013 17:00:01 EST news279910674 Light-sensing cells in the eye rely on their outer segment to convert light into neural signals that allow us to see. But because of its unique cylindrical shape, the outer segment is prone to breakage, which can cause blindness in humans. A study published on January 22nd in the Biophysical Journal provides new insight into the mechanical properties that cause the outer segment to snap under pressure. The new experimental and theoretical findings help to explain the origin of severe eye diseases and could lead to new ways of preventing blindness. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-eye-cells.html Medical research Tue, 22 Jan 2013 12:00:01 EST news278064804 Independent clinical trials, including one conducted at the Scheie Eye Institute at the Perelman School of Medicine, have reported safety and efficacy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a congenital form of blindness caused by mutations in a gene (RPE65) required for recycling vitamin A in the retina. Inherited retinal degenerative diseases were previously considered untreatable and incurable. There were early improvements in vision observed in the trials, but a key question about the long-term efficacy of gene therapy for curing the retinal degeneration in LCA has remained unanswered. Now, new research from the Scheie Eye Institute, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that gene therapy for LCA shows enduring improvement in vision but also advancing degeneration of affected retinal cells, both in LCA patients and animal models of the same condition. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-complexity-gene-therapy-congenital.html Genetics Tue, 22 Jan 2013 11:11:51 EST news278075492 Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in collaboration with researchers at the Salk Institute in California, have found for the first time that a specific protein is essential not only for maintaining a healthy retina in the eye, but also may have implications for understanding and possibly treating other conditions in the immune, reproductive, vascular and nervous systems, as well as in various cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-specific-protein-essential-healthy-eyes.html Neuroscience Mon, 07 Jan 2013 07:53:08 EST news276767582 After years of basic research, scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) are increasingly able to understand the mechanisms underlying the human Usher syndrome and are coming ever closer to finding a successful treatment approach. The scientists in the Usher research group of Professor Dr. Uwe Wolfrum are evaluating two different strategies. These involve either the repair of mutated genes or the deactivation of the genetic defects using agents. Based on results obtained to date, both options seem promising. Usher syndrome is a congenital disorder that causes the loss of both hearing and vision. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-biologists-read-through-mutations-responsible-usher.html Genetics Tue, 04 Dec 2012 10:44:48 EST news273840275 University of Kentucky researchers, led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, have made an exciting finding in the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy (GA). GA is an untreatable condition that causes blindness in millions of individuals due to death of retinal pigmented epithelial cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-major-breakthrough-macular-degeneration.html Medical research Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:00:01 EST news263483334 University of Kentucky researchers, led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, have made a major breakthrough in the "dry" form of age-related macular degeneration known as geographic atrophy (GA). GA is an untreatable condition that causes blindness in millions of individuals due to death of retinal pigmented epithelial cells. The paper, "DICER1 loss and Alu RNA Induce Age-Related Macular Degeneration via the NLRP3 Inflammasome and MyD88," was published in the April 26 online edition of the premier journal Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-major-breakthrough-macular-degeneration.html Medical research Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:46:04 EST news254663104 After a lengthy study spanning over four years, Professor Pauline Cho from the School of Optometry at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and her research team concluded that orthokeratology not only can correct refractive error, but also effective in slowing the progression of myopia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-optometry-experts-effectiveness-orthokeratology-myopic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 11 Jan 2012 08:40:51 EST news245493632 (Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and collaborators have discovered a powerful new protein in the eye of the fruit fly that may shed light on blinding diseases and other sensory problems in humans. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-key-degenerative-nerve-diseases.html Neuroscience Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:05:02 EST news240735891 According to new research by University of Kentucky investigators, an emerging pharmaceutical platform used in treating a variety of diseases may produce unintended and undesirable effects on eye function. The paper, "Short-interfering RNAs Induce Retinal Degeneration via TLR3 and IRF3", appears in the current online edition of the journal Molecular Therapy, a publication of the Nature Publishing Group and the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-emerging-pharmaceutical-platform-pose-retinal.html Medical research Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:05:30 EST news237567915 After more than three decades of research, University of Pennsylvania veterinarians and vision-research scientists, with associates at Cornell University, have identified a gene responsible for a blindness-inducing disease that afflicts dogs. In the process, the Penn scientists may have discovered clues about how retinal cells, and perhaps even neurons, can be regenerated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-blindness-causing-disease-gene.html Genetics Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:52:27 EST news235846332 Disorders of the eye are excellent targets for gene therapy because the ocular environment is readily accessible, relatively easy to monitor, and sequestered from the rest of the body. A series of articles available online ahead of print in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., highlight several exciting developments in ocular gene therapy. The articles are available free online at www.liebertpub.com/hum http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-latest-advances-gene-therapy-ocular.html Genetics Mon, 09 May 2011 15:53:56 EST news224175194