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University of Alberta researchers find new cause of blindness
September 05, 2007The scientific community is just starting to appreciate the importance of pH regulation in normal vision.
Drs Joe Casey and Yves Sauvé found evidence for blindness associated with a gene involved in retinal pH regulation. Their characterization of a mouse model with a targeted disruption of the Slc4a3 gene has revealed a new cause of blindness. Identification of Slc4a3 as underlying a previously unrecognized cause of blindness has direct clinical implications: it opens the door to a new diagnostic possibility for many yet unknown causes of blindness, including hereditary vitreoretinal degenerations (HVDs). No link has been established between Slc4a3 and HVDs.
The similarities between the disease of Slc4a3 deficient mice and individuals with HVDs, however, suggest that Slc4a3 null mice represent the first model of these blinding conditions, for which there is no cure.
Their findings thus lead to the conclusion that approaches targeting retinal extracellular pH regulation are worth exploring as treatments for HVDs and perhaps other types of blindness.
Public Library of Science
Their findings thus lead to the conclusion that approaches targeting retinal extracellular pH regulation are worth exploring as treatments for HVDs and perhaps other types of blindness.
Public Library of Science
Blindness Current Events and Blindness News RSSConference report highlights new research into drug delivery to treat eye disease
Researchers are investigating microneedles, nanoparticles and polymer carriers as potential new techniques to combat the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, according to a report from the Third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference.
Eye conditions linked with obstructive sleep apnea
If a good night's sleep helps the brain and body perform better, it's a good guess that sleep problems can cause more than just fatigue. Numerous studies have shown a connection between sleep disorders and medical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and metabolic disorders, including the risk of obesity and diabetes mellitus. In the November issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Mayo Clinic researchers outline several interesting associations between sleep disorders and eye disease.
Researchers find aggressive phototherapy can improve neurodevelopmental outcomes in some preemies
Researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston say the use of aggressive phototherapy reduces the odds that tiny premature infants will develop neurodevelopmental impairment such as cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness or physical or mental challenges.
Contact lenses are home to pathogenic amoebae
Contact lenses increase the risk of infection with pathogenic protozoa that can cause blindness.
Man's best friend recruited in the hunt for disease genes
For centuries man has had a uniquely close relationship with dogs - as a working animal, for security and, perhaps most importantly, for companionship. Now, dogs are taking on a new role - they are helping in the hunt for genetic mutations that lead to diseases in humans.
Vision loss more common in people with diabetes
Visual impairment appears to be more common in people with diabetes than in those without the disease, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Keeping herpes infection in check: Pitt researchers describe immune system strategies
Herpes simplex virus type I can cause bouts of cold sores, blindness and potentially lethal encephalitis when it reawakens from a quiescent state in the nerve cells it infects.
Atomic-resolution views suggest function of enzyme that regulates light-detecting signals in eye
An atomic-resolution view of an enzyme found only in the eye has given researchers at the University of Washington (UW) clues about how this enzyme, essential to vision, is activated.
Receptor could halt blinding diseases, stop tumor growth, preserve neurons after trauma
An international team of researchers has discovered what promises to be the on-off switch behind several major diseases.
Researchers create first model for retina receptors
A team of scientists at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center has created the first genetic research model for a microscopic part of the eye that when missing causes blindness. The research appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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