Explore the vast range of titles available.

To study the risk of recurrence in acute central serous chorioretinopathy (aCSC) and to evaluate the risk of transitioning to chronic CSC. The medical records and multimodal imaging data of 295 aCSC cases were reviewed. Typical aCSC was defined as the presence of serous subretinal fluid (SRF), one focal leakage spot on fluorescein angiography (FA), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) alterations limited in area to less than one optic disc diameter, and complete recovery from this first CSC episode. An increase in RPE alterations combined with persistent SRF was considered a sign of chronicity, which was determined in cases with >12 months follow-up. The main outcome measures included final visual acuity, percentage of disease recurrence, and percentage of cases moving toward a chronic phenotype. Treatment strategies and their efficacy were also reviewed. A total of 295 eyes in 291 patients with aCSC were included. Spontaneous recovery was awaited in 154 eyes (52%), whereas 141 eyes (48%) recovered following treatment. SRF recurrence occurred in 24% of untreated cases and in 4% of treated cases (p<0.001). An analysis of 61 eyes that underwent an FA after ≥12 months of follow-up revealed increased RPE alterations in 22 eyes (36%), and 14 eyes (23%) had both an increase in RPE alterations and SRF recurrence. All aCSC cases recovered from the first disease episode, and none of the cases developed persistent SRF leakage. Among the cases for which long-term follow-up information was available, 36% showed a tendency toward chronicity in terms of increased RPE alterations, whereas 23% showed both an increase in RPE alterations and recurrent SRF. Early photodynamic therapy (PDT) may decrease the risk of recurrences.

Purpose To assess the accuracy of High-Resolution OCT in detecting biomarkers associated with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) compared to standard OCT. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study involving CSC patients who underwent High-Resolution and standard OCT during the same visit. Using the SPECTRALIS High-Res OCT device (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany), macular B-scans were obtained and compared with those acquired using a SPECTRALIS HRA + OCT device (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). Qualitative assessments were performed, and statistical analyses compared the performance of both OCT modalities. Results Thirty-one patients diagnosed with CSC were included with a mean age of 56.3 years (± 10.2). Among them, 29% ( n  = 9) were classified as acute CSC (aCSC), while 71% ( n  = 22) had chronic CSC (cCSC). High-Resolution OCT outperformed standard OCT in detecting microstructural changes in the outer retinal layers, including a higher prevalence of disrupted interdigitation zone (IZ) (29% vs. 6%, p  = 0.003) and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) disruption (12% vs. 2%, p  = 0.0024). Intergrader agreement was high (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.85). Conclusion High-Resolution OCT demonstrates promise in identifying critical biomarkers associated with CSC, particularly disruptions in the IZ and RPE. Further validation in larger cohorts is required to confirm their clinical relevance in patients with CSC.

Chronic psychosocial stress induced by the chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC, 19 Days) paradigm promotes functional splenic in vitro glucocorticoid (GC) resistance, but only if associated with significant bite wounding or prior abdominal transmitter implantation. Moreover, sensory contact to social defeat of conspecifics represents a social stressor for the observer individual. As the occurence and severity of bite wounding is not adequately controllable, the present study aimed to develop an animal model, allowing a bite wound-independent, more reliable generation of chronically-stressed mice characterized by functional splenic in vitro GC resistance. Therefore, male C57BL/6N mice received a standardized sterile intraperitoneal (i.p.) incision surgery or SHAM treatment one week prior to 19-days of (i) CSC, (ii) witnessing social defeat during CSC exposure in sensory contact (SENS) or (iii) single-housing for control (SHC), before assessing basal and LPS-induced splenic in vitro cell viability and GC resistance . Our results indicate that individually-housed SENS but not CSC mice develop mild signs of splenic in vitro GC resistance, when undergoing prior i.p.-wounding. Taken together and considering that future studies are warranted, our findings support the hypothesis that the combination of repeated standardized i.p.-wounding with chronic sensory stress exposure represents an adequate tool to induce functional splenic in vitro GC resistance independent of the occurrence of uncontrollable bite wounds required in social stress paradigms to induce a comparable phenotype.

Stress-protective effects have been reported for M. vaccae NCTC 11659 and M. vaccae ATCC 15483 T . However, it remains to be investigated whether also closely related rapidly growing environmental saprophytic non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) species have protective effects against the negative consequences of chronic psychosocial stress. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess whether repeated i.g. administrations of a heat-inactivated preparation of Mycobacterium aurum DSM 33539 prior to 19 days of chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC) are able to ameliorate the negative effects of this preclinically validated mouse model for chronic psychosocial stress on subsequent dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis in male C57BL/6N mice. The results of the present study show that repeated i.g. administrations of M. aurum DSM 33539 have stabilizing effects on the composition of the gut microbiome, indicated by the findings that M. aurum DSM 33539 prevented CSC-induced increases in the relative abundances of the colitogenic phyla Desulfobacterota and Deferribacterota. Indeed, the relative abundance of Deferribacterota on day 19 was strongly correlated with histological damage to the colon. In line with the latter, M. aurum DSM 33539 was further protective against the aggravating effects of stress on subsequent DSS colitis. Collectively, our findings confirm and extend previous findings from our group and suggest that the stress-protective effects reported for M. vaccae NCTC 11659 and M. vaccae ATCC 15483 T are generalizable also to other NTM species.

Chronic psychosocial stress is a risk factor for the development of physical and mental disorders accompanied or driven by an activated immune system. Given that chronic stress-induced systemic immune activation is lacking in germ-free and antibiotics-treated mice, a causal role of the gut microbiome in the development of stress-related disorders is likely. To address this hypothesis in the current study we employed the chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC, 19 days) paradigm, a pre-clinically validated mouse model for chronic psychosocial stress, known to alter the gut microbial signature and to induce systemic low-grade inflammation, as well as physical and mental abnormalities. In detail, we investigated if (i) CSC-induced alterations can be prevented by repeated transplantation of feces (FT) from non-stressed single-housed control (SHC) mice during CSC exposure, and (ii) if the transplantation of a \"stressed\" CSC microbiome is able to induce CSC effects in SHC mice. Therefore, we repeatedly infused SHC and CSC recipient mice rectally with SHC donor feces at days 4 and 11 of the CSC paradigm and assessed anxiety-related behavior on day 19 as well as physiological, immunological, and bone parameters on day 20. Furthermore, SHC and CSC recipient mice were infused with CSC donor feces at respective days. To exclude effects of rectal infusions , another set of SHC and CSC mice was infused with saline, respectively. Our results showed that transplantation of SHC feces had mild stress-protective effects, indicated by an amelioration of CSC-induced thymus atrophy, anxiety, systemic low-grade inflammation, and alterations in bone homeostasis. Moreover, transplantation of CSC feces slightly aggravated CSC-induced systemic low-grade inflammation and alterations in bone homeostasis in SHC and/or CSC animals. In conclusion, our data provide evidence for a role of the host's microbiome in many, but not all, adverse consequences of chronic psychosocial stress. Moreover, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that transplantation of healthy feces might be a useful tool to prevent/treat different adverse outcomes of chronic stress. Finally, our data suggests that stress effects can be transferred to a certain extend via FT, proposing therapeutic approaches using FT to carefully screen fecal donors for their stress/trauma history.

Chronic psychosocial stress is a risk factor for the development of numerous disorders, of which most are associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. Given the immunosuppressive effects of glucocorticoids (GC), one underlying mechanism might be the development of stress-induced GC resistance in certain immune cell subpopulations. In line with this hypothesis, male mice exposed to the chronic subordinate colony housing (CSC, 19 days) model develop GC resistance of in vitro lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated splenocytes, splenomegaly and an increased percentage of splenic CD11b + cells. Here male C57BL/6N mice were euthanized at different days during CSC, and following 30 days of single housing after stressor termination to assess when CSC-induced splenic GC resistance starts to develop and whether this is a transient effect. Moreover, splenic CD11b, GC receptor (GR) and/or macrophage migration inhibiting factor (MIF) protein levels were quantified at respective days. While mild forms of CSC-induced GC resistance, increased splenic CD11b expression and/or splenomegaly were detectable on days 8 and 9 of CSC, more severe forms took until days 15 and 16 to develop, but normalized almost completely within 30 days following stressor termination (day 51). In contrast, splenic GR expression was decreased in CSC versus single-housed control (SHC) mice at all days assessed. While MIF expression was increased on days 15 and 16 of CSC, it was decreased in CSC versus SHC mice on day 20 despite persisting splenomegaly, increased CD11b expression and functional GC resistance. In summary, our data indicate that GC resistance and CD11b + cell-mediated splenomegaly develop gradually and in parallel over time during CSC exposure and are transient in nature. Moreover, while we can exclude that CSC-induced reduction in splenic GR expression is sufficient to induce functional GC resistance, the role of MIF in CD11b + cell-mediated splenomegaly and GC resistance requires further investigation.

Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of half-dose and one-third-dose photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods This retrospective study included 72 eyes from 72 patients with chronic CSC treated with either one-third-dose (2 mg/m²) or half-dose (3 mg/m²) PDT. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central retinal thickness (CRT), subretinal fluid (SRF) thickness, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), and optical coherence tomography (OCT) features were evaluated at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months. Fluorescein angiography (FA) was used to guide laser application. Treatment outcomes, including SRF resolution, BCVA gain, and recurrence rates, were compared between the two groups. Results At 12 months, complete SRF resolution was achieved in 40 eyes (78.4%) in the half-dose group and 15 eyes (71.4%) in the one-third-dose group. The recurrence rate of SRF was significantly higher in the one-third-dose group (20%) compared to the half-dose group (7.5%) ( P  =.015). BCVA improved significantly in both groups, with mean increases from 72.4 ± 3.9 to 77.1 ± 5.6 letters in the one-third-dose group and from 74.4 ± 4.2 to 80.2 ± 2.19 letters in the half-dose group. The proportion of patients achieving a ≥ 10-letter gain was higher in the half-dose group (52%) compared to the one-third-dose group (28.5%, P  =.001). Both groups exhibited significant reductions in CRT, SRF thickness, and SFCT ( P  <.001), with no significant intergroup differences. Baseline CRT and fluorescein leakage patterns influenced treatment response. Conclusions Both one-third-dose and half-dose PDT effectively improved visual and anatomical outcomes in patients with chronic CSC. However, half-dose PDT demonstrated superior efficacy in achieving SRF resolution and greater visual acuity gains with a lower recurrence rate. Clinical trial number Not applicable.

This study addressed the following question: “Is it possible to highlight the link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) through common biopsychosocial pathogenetic pathways?”. The study was conducted through electronic searches of the PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases. All relevant selected human research studies published from January 2003 to December 2020 were included. The scientific literature search was performed through repeated use of the words “OSA” and/or “acute/chronic CSC” paired with “biomedical/biopsychosocial illness model”, “psychopathology”, “stress”, “personality characteristics”, “functional diseases”, “comorbidity”, and “quality of life” in different combinations. Our literature search identified 213 reports, of which 54 articles were ultimately reviewed in this paper. Taken together, the results indicate that there is a cross-link between OSA and CSC that can be classified among biopsychological disorders in which various major biological variables integrate with psychological-functional and sociological variables; many of these variables appear in both diseases. This concept can have important implications for improving patients’ quality of life, thus providing the necessary strategies to cope with challenging life events even through nonpharmacological approaches.

Evolution of tumor hallmarks is a result of accommodation of tumor cells with their nearby milieu called tumor microenvironment (TME). Accommodation or adaptive responses is highly important for a cell to survive, without which no cell is allowed to take any further steps in tumorigenesis. Metabolism of cancer cells is largely depended on stroma. Composition and plasticity of cells within the stroma is highly affected from inflammatory setting of TME. Hypoxia which is a common event in many solid cancers, is known as one of the key hallmarks of chronic inflammation and the master regulator of metastasis. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β is produced in the chronic inflammatory and chronic hypoxic settings, and it is considered as a cardinal factor for induction of all tumor hallmarks. Aging, obesity and smoking are the main predisposing factors of cancer, acting mainly through modulation of TME.

Purpose To analyze vascular morphologies of layers of the choroid and compare between acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Methods A total of 161 (79 acute and 82 chronic) CSC eyes followed up for 6 months were enrolled. Baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) data were collected, and choriocapillaris (CC), Sattler’s layer, and Haller’s layer en-face slabs were obtained from OCT and OCTA. Vessel parameter analysis was performed using the OCTA Vascular Analyzer. Results Acute CSC showed higher node numbers, vessel area density, and total vessel length at the CC along with reduced diameter variation, skew, and kurtosis when compared to chronic CSC (all P ≤ 0.032). Acute CSC showed reduced diameter, diameter variation, and skew at Sattler’s layer when compared to chronic CSC (all P ≤ 0.033). Finally, acute CSC showed reduced diameter kurtosis at Haller’s layer when compared to chronic CSC (P = 0.017). There were significant correlations noted among the above-mentioned parameters between each layer, with correlations being more prominent between Sattler’s and Haller’s layers. Conclusion CC change in chronic CSC involved decreased nodes, density, and greater diameter variation, which in turn led to increases in diameter and diameter variations of larger vessels.