@article {1266, title = {Aqueous Fluid Transcriptome Profiling Differentiates Between Non-Neovascular and Neovascular AMD.}, journal = {Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci}, volume = {64}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Jul 03}, pages = {26}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: Early and intermediate non-neovascular AMD (NN-AMD) has the potential to progress to either advanced NN-AMD with geographic atrophy, or to neovascular AMD (N-AMD) with CNV. This exploratory study performed an unbiased analysis of aqueous humor transcriptome in patients with early or intermediate NN-AMD vs. treatment-na{\"\i}ve N-AMD to determine the feasibility of using this method in future studies investigating pathways and triggers for conversion from one form to another.

METHODS: Aqueous humor samples were obtained from 20 patients with early or intermediate NN-AMD and 20 patients with untreated N-AMD, graded on clinical examination and optical coherence tomography. Transcriptome profiles were generated using next-generation sequencing methods optimized for ocular samples. Top-ranked transcripts were compared between groups, and pathway enrichment analysis was performed.

RESULTS: Seventy-eight differentially expressed transcripts were identified. Unsupervised clustering of differentially expressed transcripts was able to successfully differentiate between the two groups based on aqueous transcriptome alone. Pathway analysis highlighted changes in expression of genes associated with mitochondrial respiration, oxidative stress, ubiquitination, and neurogenesis between the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study compared the aqueous fluid transcriptome of patients with early or intermediate NN-AMD and untreated N-AMD. Differences in transcripts and transcriptome pathways identified in the aqueous of patients with early or intermediate NN-AMD compared with patients with N-AMD are consistent with those previously implicated in the pathogenesis of these distinct AMD subtypes. The findings from this exploratory study warrant further investigation using a larger, prospective study design, with the inclusion of a control group of eyes without AMD.

}, keywords = {Choroidal Neovascularization, Gene Expression Profiling, Geographic Atrophy, Humans, Pilot Projects, Prospective Studies, Tomography, Optical Coherence, Wet Macular Degeneration}, issn = {1552-5783}, doi = {10.1167/iovs.64.10.26}, author = {Kaidonis, Georgia and Lamy, Ricardo and Wu, Joshua and Yang, Daphne and Psaras, Catherine and Doan, Thuy and Stewart, Jay M} } @article {271, title = {CYTOMEGALOVIRUS RETINITIS ASSOCIATED WITH OCCLUSIVE VASCULOPATHY IN AN ELDERLY, HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS-NEGATIVE MAN.}, journal = {Retin Cases Brief Rep}, volume = {12 Suppl 1}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Fall}, pages = {S114-S117}, abstract = {

PURPOSE: To present a case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis associated with occlusive vasculopathy presenting as sudden unilateral loss of vision in a human immunodeficiency virus-negative elderly man.

METHODS: Clinical case report and literature review.

RESULTS: An 84-year-old Chinese man with diabetes mellitus and primary open-angle glaucoma was seen in consultation by our uveitis service for evaluation of sudden vision loss in the right eye. Examination revealed an occlusive retinal vasculopathy. An extensive diagnostic workup was performed, including fluorescein angiography, serologic testing for infectious etiologies including syphilis and tuberculosis and a temporal artery biopsy. The patient was treated with high-dose oral prednisone, after which the biopsy returned negative for giant-cell arteritis. Three weeks after initial presentation, the patient was noted to have a new area of retinitis in the temporal periphery. An anterior chamber paracentesis was performed, and the fluid was sent for directed polymerase chain reaction testing, which returned positive for CMV. Human immunodeficiency virus testing was negative. He was treated with oral valganciclovir and intravitreal foscarnet injections and the infection subsequently resolved.

CONCLUSION: Cytomegalovirus infection can be associated with occlusive vasculopathy in human immunodeficiency virus-negative individuals. The diagnosis of CMV retinitis should be considered in patients with human immunodeficiency virus-negative who have other conditions that may compromise immune function, particularly advanced age, diabetes mellitus, malignancy, or use of immunosuppressive agents.

}, keywords = {Aged, 80 and over, Cytomegalovirus Retinitis, HIV Seronegativity, Humans, Male, Retinal Vein Occlusion}, issn = {1937-1578}, doi = {10.1097/ICB.0000000000000639}, author = {Moussa, Kareem and Doan, Thuy and Stewart, Jay M and Shantha, Jessica and Gonzales, John and Acharya, Nisha and Cunningham, Emmett T} } @article {266, title = {Illuminating uveitis: metagenomic deep sequencing identifies common and rare pathogens.}, journal = {Genome Med}, volume = {8}, year = {2016}, month = {2016 08 25}, pages = {90}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Ocular infections remain a major cause of blindness and morbidity worldwide. While prognosis is dependent on the timing and accuracy of diagnosis, the etiology remains elusive in ~50\ \% of presumed infectious uveitis cases. The objective of this study is to determine if unbiased metagenomic deep sequencing (MDS) can accurately detect pathogens in intraocular fluid samples of patients with uveitis.

METHODS: This is a proof-of-concept study, in which intraocular fluid samples were obtained from five subjects with known diagnoses, and one subject with bilateral chronic uveitis without a known etiology. Samples were subjected to MDS, and results were compared with those from conventional diagnostic tests. Pathogens were identified using a rapid computational pipeline to analyze the non-host sequences obtained from MDS.

RESULTS: Unbiased MDS of intraocular fluid produced results concordant with known diagnoses in subjects with (n = 4) and without (n = 1) uveitis. Samples positive for Cryptococcus neoformans, Toxoplasma gondii, and herpes simplex virus 1 as tested by a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified laboratory were correctly identified with MDS. Rubella virus was identified in one case of chronic bilateral idiopathic uveitis. The subject{\textquoteright}s strain was most closely related to a German rubella virus strain isolated in 1992, one year before he developed a fever and rash while living in Germany. The pattern and the number of viral identified mutations present in the patient{\textquoteright}s strain were consistent with long-term viral replication in the eye.

CONCLUSIONS: MDS can identify fungi, parasites, and DNA and RNA viruses in minute volumes of intraocular fluid samples. The identification of chronic intraocular rubella virus infection highlights the eye{\textquoteright}s role as a long-term pathogen reservoir, which has implications for virus eradication and emerging global epidemics.

}, keywords = {Aqueous Humor, Cryptococcosis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Herpes Simplex, Herpesvirus 1, Human, High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing, Humans, Metagenomics, Phylogeny, Rubella, Rubella virus, Toxoplasma, Toxoplasmosis, Uvea, Uveitis, Virus Replication}, issn = {1756-994X}, doi = {10.1186/s13073-016-0344-6}, author = {Doan, Thuy and Wilson, Michael R and Crawford, Emily D and Chow, Eric D and Khan, Lillian M and Knopp, Kristeene A and O{\textquoteright}Donovan, Brian D and Xia, Dongxiang and Hacker, Jill K and Stewart, Jay M and Gonzales, John A and Acharya, Nisha R and DeRisi, Joseph L} }