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Abstract This multicentre retrospective study evaluated the 1-year outcomes and safety profile of faricimab in treatment-naïve patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Fifty-five patients (57 eyes) underwent loading therapy comprising three monthly faricimab injections. If dryness was achieved by the third month, subsequent treat-and-extend (TAE) follow-up continued at a minimum 8-week interval thereafter. If wet macula persisted at the third month, a fourth dose was administered, followed by the TAE regimen. After 1 year, improvements in visual acuity (0.44 ± 0.46 [baseline] to 0.34 ± 0.48; p

Abstract This multicenter study aimed to assess the short-term effectiveness and safety of faricimab in treatment-naïve patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) in Japan. We retrospectively reviewed 63 eyes of 61 patients with wAMD, including types 1, 2, and 3 macular neovascularization as well as polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Patients received three consecutive monthly intravitreal injections of faricimab as loading therapy. Over these 3 months, visual acuity improved gradually compared to baseline. Moreover, the central foveal thickness decreased significantly at 1, 2, and 3 months compared to baseline (p

Abstract The chronic eye disorder, neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), is a common cause of permanent vision impairment and blindness among the elderly in developed countries, including Japan. This study aimed to investigate the disease burden of nAMD patients under treatment, using data from the Japan National Health and Wellness surveys 2009–2014. Out of 147,272 respondents, 100 nAMD patients reported currently receiving treatment. Controls without nAMD were selected by 1:4 propensity score matching. Healthcare Resource Utilisation (HRU), Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), and work productivity loss were compared between the groups. Regarding HRU, nAMD patients had significantly increased number of visits to any healthcare provider (HCP) (13.8 vs. 8.2), ophthalmologist (5.6 vs. 0.8), and other HCP (9.5 vs. 7.1) compared to controls after adjusting for confounding factors. Additionally, nAMD patients had reduced HRQoL and work productivity, i.e., reduced physical component summary (PCS) score (46.3 vs. 47.9), increased absenteeism (18.14% vs. 0.24%), presenteeism (23.89% vs. 12.44%), and total work productivity impairment (33.57% vs. 16.24%). The increased number of ophthalmologist visits were associated with decreased PCS score, increased presenteeism and total work productivity impairment. The current study highlighted substantial burden for nAMD patients, requiring further attention for future healthcare planning and treatment development.

Abstract This study investigated the pathophysiological features of pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) by analysing and comparing cytokine profiles in aqueous humour (AH) collected from 18 PNV, 18 nAMD and 11 control patients. Responses to intravitreal injection of aflibercept were also analysed in the PNV and nAMD groups. In the PNV group, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A was significantly lower than in the nAMD group (p = 0.03) but was almost identical to that in the control group (p = 0.86). The nAMD group showed positive correlations between interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 (r = 0.78, p

Abstract Brown adipocytes function to maintain body temperature by heat production. However, direct measurement of heat production at a single cell level remains difficult. Here we developed a method to measure the temperature within primary cultured brown adipocytes using a cationic fluorescent polymeric thermometer. Placement of the thermometer within a matured brown adipocyte and a precursor cell enabled the detection of heat production following uncoupler treatment. The increase in the intracellular temperature due to stimulation with a mitochondrial uncoupler was higher in matured brown adipocytes than in precursor cells. Stimulation with a β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) agonist, norepinephrine, raised the intracellular temperature of matured brown adipocytes to a level comparable to that observed after stimulation with a β3-AR-specific agonist, CL316.243. In contrast, neither β-AR agonist induced an intracellular temperature increase in precursor cells. Further, pretreatment of brown adipocytes with a β3-AR antagonist inhibited the norepinephrine-stimulated elevation of temperature. These results demonstrate that our novel method successfully determined the difference in intracellular temperature increase between matured brown adipocytes and precursor cells in response to stimulation by an uncoupler and β-AR agonists.

Abstract We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on the outcome of anti-VEGF treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a prospective cohort. Four hundred and sixty-one treatment-naïve AMD patients were recruited at 13 clinical centers and all patients were treated with 3 monthly injections of ranibizumab followed by pro re nata regimen treatment for one year. Genomic DNA was collected from all patients for a 2-stage GWAS on achieving dry macula after the initial treatment, the requirement for an additional treatment, and visual acuity changes during the 12-month observation period. In addition, we evaluated 9 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 8 previously reported AMD-related genes for their associations with treatment outcome. The discovery stage with 256 patients evaluated 8,480,849 SNPs, but no SNPs showed genome-wide level significance in association with treatment outcomes. Although SNPs with P-values of