Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 122 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-94). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Aim: The aim of this study was to establish normal values for Schirmer tear test (version 2) and tear break up time (TBUT) in a South African young adult Black population. Method: Following ethical approval by the biomedical research and ethics committee, KwaZulu-Natal, participants were recruited from the city of Durban in South Africa via personal invitations, poster advertisements and University of KwaZulu-Natal optometry clinic clients. McMonnies questionnaire for dry eye diagnosis was administered and those who failed were excluded from the main study. Two hundred (100 males and 100 females) participants who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Following a slit lamp examination of the eye, the Schirmer test was administered and the following day, the TBUT was measured. A re-test version of the two procedures were conducted one week after, at about the same time of the day for each subject. Results: The participants were aged 18-30 years, mean = 20.77 ± 2.29 years. The mean Schirmer test values for all participants (N = 200; 400 eyes) was 15.96 ± 6.86mm. The values for the males and females (200 eyes each) were 16.34 ± 6.93mm and 15.58 ± 6.81mm respectively. The mean TBUT (400 eyes) was 7.18 ± 1.89 secs. The mean values for the males and females (200 eyes each) were 6.90 ± 1.88 secs and 7.32 ± 1.67 secs respectively. A strong positive correlation (r = 0.895) and (r = 0.914) respectively was found between the right and left eyes in the two tests. Conclusion: Generally, the mean values found in this study for the Schirmer test are similar to those that have been reported in the literature. However, values for TBUT differ from the values that have been previously reported, being higher in some instances and lower in others. These findings have implications for dry eye diagnosis and also contact lens practice in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Optom.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2012.

M.Sc. (Biochemistry) / Dry eye disease (DED) and keratoconus (KC) continue to affect the quality of life of many South Africans (and elsewhere) and in the case of KC often leads to blindness. It is estimated that DED affects 14% to 33% of the population worldwide, while 1 in 2000 of the worlds population is affected by KC. However, details of the etiology of these diseases and their biochemical ‘fingerprint’ remain uncertain. In this study, emphasis was placed on the investigation of immunological proteins in the precorneal tear film of DED and KC subjects and meibomian lipids in these individuals. Tear fluid and meibum were collected from control, DED and KC volunteers. Control subjects were non-contact lens wearers and free from ocular diseases, whereas DED subjects were diagnosed by means of an ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire. DED subjects were divided into two groups: ‘moderate DED’ and ‘severe DED’ based on OSDI. KC subjects were diagnosed by the use of a slit-lamp biomicroscopy exam. Enzymelinked immunosorbent assays were performed to quantitate secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-á) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in the collected tear fluid. Meibum was analysed with proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Multivariate data analyses (PCA) were used to extract interpretable information from the multidimensional data generated from the aforementioned techniques and used to build a broad picture of the general lipidomic differences between DED, KC and healthy subjects. Tear levels of sIgA and MMP-1 were significantly decreased in patients with KC compared to control. In contrast, the tears of severe DED subjects were characterised by higher levels of TNF-á and lower levels of sIgA. In subjects with moderate DED, TNF-á levels were significantly elevated. The results of this study re-emphasize that KC and DED individuals are associated with differential expression of specific tear proteins and support the view that the severity of DED is reflected in the levels of immunological proteins present in basal tears. Differences in the chemical composition of meibum from subjects with severe DED and KC compared to control were observed, more specifically in the aliphatic region of 1H-NMR spectra and C-C rocking region of FTIR spectra. The results therefore point towards the saturated components of fatty acids (and their chemical environments) as key targets for future investigations to elucidate compositional differences between DED, KC and healthy meibum.

Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2001. / "A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves 187-217.

Thesis--Auburn University, 2007. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.107-118).

Sjèogren's syndrome (S) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by ocular and oral dryness and primarily affects post menopausal women. In the present study we investigated the time course of lymphocytic infiltration, apoptosis, caspase-3 activity and different cytokines levels in the lacrimal glands of both genetically predisposed and control mice to elucidate immunopathological mechanism leading to dry eye. The results of our experiments showed that ovariectomy accelerated pathological findings of SS by increasing lympocytic infiltration, cytokine production, lacrimal gland cell death and cleaved caspase-3 activity, and these effects were more pronounced and persistent in the genetically predisposed mouse model of SS. In addition, we observed that lymphocytic infiltration occurred earlier compared to apoptosis which may perpetuate immune mediated destruction of lacrimal epithelial cells. Furthermore, treatment with physioloigical doses of 17-B Estradiol (E2) or DIhydrotestosterone (DHT) prevented all these pathological events observed after ovariectomy. / by Safinaz Mostafa. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Orientador: Elenice Deffune / Banca: Magda Massae Hata Viveiros / Banca: Jaqueline de Camargo Rinaldi / Resumo: Introdução: Muitas patologias podem acometer a córnea, entre elas a síndrome do olho seco e as doenças relacionadas. Tratamentos inovadores para a síndrome do olho seco têm surgido, entre eles, o uso de colírio produzido com soro autólogo de uso ocular, soro de sangue de cordão umbilical, meio condicionado obtido pela expansão de células tronco do epitélio limbal (modelo ex vivo), entre outros. Pacientes com provável indicação do colírio de soro autólogo podem ter a contra-indicação na produção oriunda do status imune para doenças virais como HIV, hepatites B e C, sífilis, doença de Chagas e HTLV I e II, que do ponto de vista de produção do autocolírio, encontram barreiras. Para estes casos, o colírio de soro alogênico, oriundo de doadores saudáveis, é uma alternativa viável. Objetivos: Analisar o efeito in vitro da ação de colírio alogênico em cultura de células da região córneo-escleral, estabelecer a cultura e expansão de células aderentes obtidas da região córneo-escleral, comparar a cultura das células aderentes em meio de cultura contendo colírio e fatores de crescimento derivados de plaquetas, avaliar as células por meio da técnica de imunohistoquímica e analisar os dados médicos dos pacientes que utilizam autocolírio por meio de prontuários. Casuística e Métodos: Os anéis córneo-esclerais foram obtidos no centro cirúrgico após cirurgia de doação de córnea, sendo que estes anéis são materiais de descarte após a cirurgia. Em seguida, o tecido foi encaminhado ao Laboratório de Engenharia Celular do Hemocentro de Botucatu, onde foi fragmentado em pequenas partes e digerido com colagenase tipo I. As células foram plaqueadas em frascos de 25 cm² com meio DMEM Knockout, em uma primeira parte do experimento, e em meio Keratinocyte na segunda parte do trabalho. Após confluência de 80%, as células passaram pelo processo de tripsinização para desprendimento ... / Abstract: Introduction: Many diseases can affect cornea, including dry eye syndrome and related diseases. Innovative treatments for dry eye syndrome have emerged , among them the use of autologous serum eye drops produced with the use of eye serum, umbilical cord blood, conditioned medium obtained by expansion of limbal epithelial stem cells (ex vivo model) among others. Patients with probable indication of autologous serum eyedrops may be contraindicated in production originating immune status for viral diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis , Chagas disease and HTLV I and II, from the point of view of eye drops's production, have barriers . For these cases, eye drops from healthy donors allogeneic serum can be an alternative. Objectives: Evaluate in vitro effect of the action of allogeneic eye drops in corneal-scleral cell culture, established the culture and expansion of adherent cells obtained from the corneal- scleral region, compare the culture of adherent cells in culture medium containing eye drops and platelets derived growth factors, evaluating the cells by immunohistochemistry and analyze medical data of eye drops's patients. Materials and Methods: The corneal- scleral rings were obtained in the operating room after surgery of tissue donor, and these rings were discarded after surgery. Then, tissue was sent to the Laboratory of Cell Engineering of Botucatu Blood Center, which was fragmented into small pieces and digested with collagenase type I. Cells were plated in 25 cm² flasks with DMEM Knockout in the first part of the experiment, and Keratinocyte in the second part of the experiment. After 80% confluence, cells passed through the trypsinization procedure for detachment of the cells from the culture flask. Mounting plaque experiment, cells were placed to control, or untreated cells, treated cells with eye drops and cells treated with platelets derived growth factors was performed. After 5 days, immunohistochemistry ... / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-11-10T11:09:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-02-28Bitstream added on 2014-11-10T11:57:31Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000786133.pdf: 2473732 bytes, checksum: 2718404dbc454aa4d3963273c33b3ecc (MD5) / Introdução: Muitas patologias podem acometer a córnea, entre elas a síndrome do olho seco e as doenças relacionadas. Tratamentos inovadores para a síndrome do olho seco têm surgido, entre eles, o uso de colírio produzido com soro autólogo de uso ocular, soro de sangue de cordão umbilical, meio condicionado obtido pela expansão de células tronco do epitélio limbal (modelo ex vivo), entre outros. Pacientes com provável indicação do colírio de soro autólogo podem ter a contra-indicação na produção oriunda do status imune para doenças virais como HIV, hepatites B e C, sífilis, doença de Chagas e HTLV I e II, que do ponto de vista de produção do autocolírio, encontram barreiras. Para estes casos, o colírio de soro alogênico, oriundo de doadores saudáveis, é uma alternativa viável. Objetivos: Analisar o efeito in vitro da ação de colírio alogênico em cultura de células da região córneo-escleral, estabelecer a cultura e expansão de células aderentes obtidas da região córneo-escleral, comparar a cultura das células aderentes em meio de cultura contendo colírio e fatores de crescimento derivados de plaquetas, avaliar as células por meio da técnica de imunohistoquímica e analisar os dados médicos dos pacientes que utilizam autocolírio por meio de prontuários. Casuística e Métodos: Os anéis córneo-esclerais foram obtidos no centro cirúrgico após cirurgia de doação de córnea, sendo que estes anéis são materiais de descarte após a cirurgia. Em seguida, o tecido foi encaminhado ao Laboratório de Engenharia Celular do Hemocentro de Botucatu, onde foi fragmentado em pequenas partes e digerido com colagenase tipo I. As células foram plaqueadas em frascos de 25 cm² com meio DMEM Knockout, em uma primeira parte do experimento, e em meio Keratinocyte na segunda parte do trabalho. Após confluência de 80%, as células passaram pelo processo de tripsinização para desprendimento ... / Introduction: Many diseases can affect cornea, including dry eye syndrome and related diseases. Innovative treatments for dry eye syndrome have emerged , among them the use of autologous serum eye drops produced with the use of eye serum, umbilical cord blood, conditioned medium obtained by expansion of limbal epithelial stem cells (ex vivo model) among others. Patients with probable indication of autologous serum eyedrops may be contraindicated in production originating immune status for viral diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis , Chagas disease and HTLV I and II, from the point of view of eye drops´s production, have barriers . For these cases, eye drops from healthy donors allogeneic serum can be an alternative. Objectives: Evaluate in vitro effect of the action of allogeneic eye drops in corneal-scleral cell culture, established the culture and expansion of adherent cells obtained from the corneal- scleral region, compare the culture of adherent cells in culture medium containing eye drops and platelets derived growth factors, evaluating the cells by immunohistochemistry and analyze medical data of eye drops´s patients. Materials and Methods: The corneal- scleral rings were obtained in the operating room after surgery of tissue donor, and these rings were discarded after surgery. Then, tissue was sent to the Laboratory of Cell Engineering of Botucatu Blood Center, which was fragmented into small pieces and digested with collagenase type I. Cells were plated in 25 cm² flasks with DMEM Knockout in the first part of the experiment, and Keratinocyte in the second part of the experiment. After 80% confluence, cells passed through the trypsinization procedure for detachment of the cells from the culture flask. Mounting plaque experiment, cells were placed to control, or untreated cells, treated cells with eye drops and cells treated with platelets derived growth factors was performed. After 5 days, immunohistochemistry ...

by Stefanie P.C. Czerwinski. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013. / Includes bibliography. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / System requirements: Adobe Reader. / Sjèogren's Syndrome (SS) is a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting mostly the exocrine cells of lacrimal and salivary glands, leading to diminished secretory function and resulting in keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye disease) and/or stomatitis sicca (dry mouth disease). Despite several decades of studies focusing on autoimmune diseases and dry eye diseases, the exact etiology and mechanisms of SS remain unknown. Besides the fact that SS is often unreported, unrecognized and untreated, today's therapies rely exclusively on treating the symptoms after disease progression; there exists neither prevention therapy nor cure for SS. In addition, SS has been diagnosed predominantly in post-menopausal women with the female to male ratio reaching 9:1, suggesting a role of ovarian sex hormones in the pathogenesis of SS. However, not all postmenopausal women develop SS, indicating the contribution of other factors such as a genetic background to the onset of SS. In the present study, ovariectomized (OVX) NOD.B10.H2b mice provide a model of menopause with a genetic predisposition to SS, as compared to non-predisposed C57BL/10 mice. Both strands of mice were either sham operated, OVX, OVX and treated with 17(Sb (Bestradiol (E2), or OVX and treated with dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Lacrimal glands were collected 3, 7, 21, and 30 days after surgery and processed for RNA analysis by rt-qPCR and protein assays by ELISA to evaluate cytokine expression and concentrations of IL- 1\U+fffd\, TNF-a, IFN-(Sd(B, IL-10, and IL-4 on a timeline. Overall, our results showed a significant increase in IL-1\U+fffd\ TNF-a, IL-10, and IL-4 expression and levels in the lacrimal glands of OVX NOD.B10.H2b mice as compared to sham operated animals, and treatment with E2 or DHT at time of OVX prevented the increase in cytokine expression and levels.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-27T18:26:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-08-14. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2018-07-27T18:30:15Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000866549.pdf: 1249047 bytes, checksum: fb12f6b451fca36393121a26b2c8f5b5 (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A ceratoconjuntivite seca (CCS) é uma afecção de caráter inflamatório, comum em cães. O uso do ômega 3 e 6 no tratamento de humanos e coelhos com CCS tem sido pesquisado devido ao potencial efeito imunomodulador desses ácidos graxos, porém não há relatos do seu uso em cães com essa afecção. Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito dos óleos de linho e peixe, produtos ricos em ômega 3 e 6, administrados por via oral, na produção lacrimal e inflamação ocular de cães com CCS. Foram utilizados 45 cães, sendo 15 sem CCS, constituindo o grupo controle (GC), e 30 com CCS. Estes foram divididos de forma randomizada e cega em dois grupos: grupo tratado com óleo de linho (GL) e grupo tratado com óleo de peixe (GP); cada animal recebeu, por via oral, uma cápsula a cada 24 horas durante 60 dias, de acordo com o seu grupo. Exame clínico, teste lacrimal de Schirmer 1, teste de ruptura do filme lacrimal e teste de fluoresceína foram realizados antes do início do tratamento (M0) e aos 15 (M15), 30 (M30), 45 (M45) e 60 (M60) dias de tratamento. A citologia de impressão de superfície ocular foi realizada no M0, M30 e M60, enquanto a biópsia conjuntival para histopatologia foi obtida antes do tratamento e no momento final de avaliação. Houve diminuição significativa da hiperemia conjuntival nos cães de ambos os grupos tratados aos 60 dias. Na análise histopatológica, detectou-se diminuição da espessura epitelial no GL e GP, diminuição da queratinização no GL e diminuição do infiltrado de células inflamatórias no GP ao final do tratamento. Não houve diferença significativa nas demais avaliações. Conclui-se que os óleos de linho e peixe não aumentam a produção lacrimal até 60 dias do tratamento, porém melhoram a qualidade da superfície ocular. O óleo de peixe reduz o quadro inflamatório. Desta forma, o tratamento com óleo de linho ou peixe pode ser indicado como terapia adjuvante para cães com CCS / The keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS) is inflammatory and a common disease in dogs. The use of omega 6 and 3 for treatment in humans and rabbits has been researched because of the potential immunomodulatory effect of these fatty acids, but there are no reports of its use in dogs with this condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of linseed oil and fish oil, products rich in omega 3 and 6, administered orally on tear production and ocular inflammation in dogs with KCS. For this study we used 45 dogs: 15 without KCS, constituting the control group (CG) and 30 with KCS. A randomized, double-blind clinical study was performed in assigned to treatment orally with oil fish (FO) or linseed oil (LO), both once daily for 60 days. More 15 dogs with no KCS were evaluated for a control group (CG). Clinical examination of the eye, Schirmer tear tests I, tear film breakup time, fluorescein test were performed prior to treatment (M0) and at days 15 (M15), 30(M30), 45(M45) and 60(M60) after initiation of treatment. The impression cytology on ocular surface was performed at M0, M30 and M60. The conjunctival histopathological analysis was only performed prior to treatment and at day 60 after treatment. That was a significant decrease in conjunctival hyperemia in dogs of both treatments at day 60. The histopathological analysis revealed a decrease in the epithelial thickness both in FO and LO, a decrease on the degree of keratinization in LO and a decrease inflammatory cell infiltration in FO. There were no significant differences in the others evaluations in both groups. The analyzed results demonstrate that although both treatments administered orally do not increase tear production within 60 days of treatment, it improve the ocular surface. Thus, fish oil reduces eye inflammation. Therefore, treatment with linseed oil or fish may be indicated as adjunctive therapy for dogs with KCS