Innovations in ocular immunology and microbiology transform vision care
Seattle, Wash. — Comprehending the eye’s immune system is crucial in learning about eye diseases and creating efficient treatments. However, many approaches in immunology and microbiology can be taxing, expensive and restrictive. Three studies presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology’s (ARVO) 2024 Annual Meeting explore new avenues that are cost-effective, accessible and fast in studying various eye diseases.
Retina-on-a-chip technique unveils insights into glaucoma
Understanding how glaucoma develops and finding treatments in a laboratory requires a system that can mimic the complex conditions inside the eye. Typically, the inner blood-retinal barrier (iBRB) restricts the movement of certain immune cells, T cells. However, in glaucoma, this barrier might malfunction, and conventional cell cultures are unable to reflect these complexities. Now, new technologies like microfluidics-based cell culturing, often called ‘organ-on-a-chip’ can mimic human organs accurately and aid glaucoma research.
Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Department of Ophthalmology in Boston, Mass., introduced a new model called “retina-on-a-chip” to investigate the activity between retinal and immune cells in glaucoma. Lead investigator, Qin (Maggie) Qi, PhD, MS, and her team created a multi-compartment microfluidic device that could access the disease mechanism in greater detail and comprehensiveness in comparison to existing models.
In over 24 hours, they were able to detect notable infiltration of T cells influenced by cytokines, indicating a compromised iBRB and a series of immune regulatory processes pertinent to the progression of glaucoma. Qi noted, “Our microfluidic technology offers a new platform to examine retina immunopathology for various species in vitro systematically and efficiently, especially for elucidating causative roles for disease progression that are difficult to analyze in vivo."
- Abstract title: Understanding Glaucoma Immunopathology by Building Retina-on-a-Chip
- Presentation start/end time: Sunday, May 5, 4 – 4:15pm PT
- Location: Room 3AB (Level 3), Seattle Convention Center – Arch Building
- Presentation number: 937
AI advancement transforms fungal infection detection
A corneal infection caused by a fungus, fungal keratitis, is a common infection but also challenging to diagnose. Fungal keratitis is often diagnosed by conducting thorough and time-consuming laboratory analyses of eye samples by specialized experts. Such a process is not ideal for patients, especially those living in remote areas. Hence, Jad F. Assaf, MD, and his team, led by Travis Redd, MD, MPH, developed a process that is quick and accessible.
The team used an artificial intelligence tool called dual-stream multiple instance learning (DSMIL) to analyze 388 eye samples. Usually, the size of the images can exceed 100,000 pixels in resolution, proving to be a challenge for traditional computer vision algorithms, but the DSMIL was able to handle the huge amount of data. The initial findings indicated an accuracy rate of around 80% in differentiating between non-fungal and fungal slides.
Assaf shared, “Our study introduces an innovative deep learning method for diagnosing fungal infections in corneal smears, significantly improving diagnosis efficiency. This approach is set to make a profound impact on public health by enabling automated diagnosis in underserved regions and markedly reducing the global incidence of vision loss and blindness due to fungal infections."
- Abstract title: Automated Detection of Fungal Infections in Corneal Smears Using Dual Stream Multiple Instance Learning
- Presentation start/end time: Monday, May 6, 8:30 – 10:15am PT
- Location: Exhibit/Poster Hall, Seattle Convention Center – Arch Building
- Posterboard number: B0375
A promising treatment for a highly drug-resistant eye infection
In 2023, there was a surge of extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) infections among patients in the U.S. It was reported that the PA infections in 81 patients were caused by artificial tears that were purchased online. The eye infections unfortunately led to the loss of eyes, blindness and the death of three patients. The PA bacteria that caused the infections was resistant to all eye infection antibiotics. However, the strain was susceptible to one antibiotic, cefiderocol, that had never been examined as an eye drop.
Thus, researchers from the Charles T. Campbell Ophthalmic Microbiology Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Penn. and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in N.H., assessed the toxicity of cefiderocol eye drops and their antibacterial efficacy in treating experimental XDR PA eye infections. They evaluated the effectiveness of cefiderocol against 135 PA isolates from eye infections using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing. They tested the ocular toxicity and antibiotic efficacy of the cefiderocol eye drops against animals infected with the XDR PA strain.
Lead investigators, Eric G. Romanowski, MS and Robert M. Q. Shanks, PhD summarized, “In this study, we showed that the ‘trojan-horse’ antibiotic, cefiderocol…was non-toxic and effective against the highly resistant outbreak strain in an experimental model of infection. These results demonstrate that topical cefiderocol could be a new weapon in the ophthalmologist’s arsenal for the treatment of corneal infections caused by highly antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa.”
- Abstract title: Cefiderocol is an effective topical monotherapy for experimental extensively-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis
- Presentation start/end time: Monday, May 6, 3:15 – 3:30pm PT
- Location: 3AB - Seattle Convention Center – Arch Building
- Presentation number: 2095
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The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) is the largest eye and vision research organization in the world. Members include approximately 10,000 eye and vision researchers from over 75 countries. ARVO advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders. Learn more at ARVO.org.
Media contact:
Jenniffer Scherhaufer, MMC, CAE
1.240.221.2923
media@arvo.org