In trials using mice, a new class of drugs has proven highly effective at helping to reduce the abnormal blood vessels responsible for vision loss associated with AMD.

 

“We may have found an optimized treatment for macular degeneration,” said senior author of the study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Sai Chavala.

 

MDM2 inhibitors are the source of this cautious enthusiasm. While anti-VEGF, presently the most widespread treatment, works by targeting the growth factors that lead to the formation of leaky blood vessels, MDM2 inhibitors attack the blood vessels directly, causing them to regress. This could lead to more long-lasting results.

 

The drug activates a protein called p53, a regulator that determines if a cell lives or dies. This protein initiates the cell death process in the abnormal blood vessels. Another technique, low-dose radiation, also works to increase p53 protein, but it causes DNA damage, which MDM2 doesn’t do.

 

“The idea is we’d like to have a long-lasting treatment so patients wouldn’t have to receive as many injections,” said Chavala. “That would reduce their overall risk of eye infections, and also potentially lower the economic burden of this condition by reducing treatment costs.”

 

Source:

http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2013/september/unc-research-points-to-promising-treatment-for-macular-degeneration

 

David Pietrobon, President and General Manager of HOYA Vision Care Canada, will be leaving the company effective September 30, 2013.

 

Mr. Pietrobon joined the Japanese firm in 2003 and has contributed significantly to the growth of HOYA Canada, from a small stock lens distribution firm to a successful player in the country’s lens and lab services market. During his tenure, HOYA has been the fastest growing lens manufacturer in Canada.

 

“We wish to thank David for his valuable contribution to the company during 10 years of dedicated service, and wish him the best in any future endeavour,” said Gerry Bottero, President, HOYA Vision Care Company (Global).

 

For his part, David Pietrobon indicated that he is “confident that the management team in place will continue to grow the HOYA brand, to the benefit of Canadian Eyecare Professionals and their patients.”

 

Hoya Vision Care Canada is currently looking for a successor to Mr. Pietrobon.

 

 

Source: HOYA Canada

 

The identification of a gene mutation in dogs with progressive retinal atrophy could lead to new therapies for blindness in humans.

 

This form of canine atrophy is the equivalent of retinitis pigmentosa in humans. Both conditions are marked by the early loss of rod photoreceptors, which are responsible for night vision.

 

In 2011, the Michigan State University research team had identified a gene mutation in papillon dogs with progressive retinal atrophy (PRA). Subsequently, they conducted experiments to make sure the mutation caused the disease. They found that the mutation of the CNGB1 gene deprives the photoreceptors of a protein that they need to function properly. The gene is responsible for about 70% of observed canine PRA.

 

The research team is now working on developing a gene therapy to correct the problem. Given the similarities between human and canine retinal dystrophy, the development of therapies for dogs could provide an important foundation for preclinical assessment of therapies for humans.

Source:

 

http://cvm.msu.edu/about-the-college/news-and-events/news/cngb1-gene

 

Patients who undergo cataract surgery live longer than those who don’t.

 

According to an article written by Australian researchers and published in Ophthalmology, patients who’d had surgery had a 40% lower long-term risk of death. The study involved 354 people, 49 years of age or older, with cataract-related vision loss. Some underwent surgery, others did not. They were followed from 1992 to 2007.

 

This “suggests to ophthalmologists that correcting cataract patients’ visual impairment results in improved outcomes beyond that of the eye and vision, and has important impacts on general health,” said Jie Jin Wang, one of the lead researchers.

 

The link between cataract correction and the reduction of mortality risk, however, remains unclear. Among the factors deemed “plausible,” the researchers list better physical and emotional well-being, optimism, greater confidence associated with independent living as a result of improved vision and an improved ability to comply with prescription medications. 

 

A team of researchers from the US and Switzerland has developed a contact lens that may improve vision in AMD patients by offering them a choice between normal or magnified vision.

 

The system uses mirror surfaces to make a telescope that has been integrated into a contact lens just over a millimeter thick. The centre of the lens provides unmagnified vision, while the ring-shaped telescope located at the periphery of the regular contact lens magnifies the view 2.8 times. The user can switch between the two thanks to the liquid crystals in the glasses ordinarily used for viewing 3D television. These glasses selectively block either portion of the contact lens.

 

“For a visual aid to be accepted it needs to be highly convenient and unobtrusive,” says one of the members of the team led by Dr. Joseph Ford, researcher Eric Tremblay, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. This lens would be an attractive compromise between the huge frame-mounted telescopes and surgically implanted micro-telescopes.

 

Tests showed that the magnified image was clear and provided a much larger field of view than other magnification approaches. Improvements still need to be made, namely with regard to colour correction, before the system can be used by patients.

Sources:

http://www.opticsinfobase.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-21-13-15980

http://www.visionmonday.com/latest-news/article/telescopic-contact-lens-may-help-amd-patients/