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Increasing planting density has been adopted as an effective means to increase maize (Zea mays) yield. Competition for light from neighbors can trigger plant shade avoidance syndrome, which includes accelerated flowering. However, the regulatory networks of maize inflorescence development in response to high-density planting remain poorly understood. In this study, we showed that shade-mimicking treatments cause precocious development of the tassels and ears. Comparative transcriptome profiling analyses revealed the enrichment of phytohormone-related genes and transcriptional regulators among the genes co-regulated by developmental progression and simulated shade. Network analysis showed that three homologous Squamosa promoter binding protein (SBP)-like (SPL) transcription factors, Unbranched2 (UB2), Unbranched3 (UB3), and Tasselsheath4 (TSH4), individually exhibited connectivity to over 2,400 genes across the V3-to-V9 stages of tassel development. In addition, we showed that the ub2 ub3 double mutant and tsh4 single mutant were almost insensitive to simulated shade treatments. Moreover, we demonstrated that UB2/UB3/TSH4 could directly regulate the expression of Barren inflorescence2 (BIF2) and Zea mays teosinte branched1/cycloidea/proliferating cell factor30 (ZmTCP30). Furthermore, we functionally verified a role of ZmTCP30 in regulating tassel branching and ear development. Our results reveal a UB2/UB3/TSH4-anchored transcriptional regulatory network of maize inflorescence development and provide valuable targets for breeding shade-tolerant maize cultivars.

BACKGROUND: Quantitative assessments based on optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCTA) may have potential promising value in the early detection of non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), but there is limited information on the ability of OCTA to distinguish eyes with NA-AION. This study was conducted to evaluate the ability of measurements of peripapillary perfusion using OCTA to distinguish healthy eyes from eyes with NA-AION. METHODS: In this retrospective case-control study, newly diagnosed NA-AION patients and healthy controls matched at a ratio of 1:3 by gender and age (±5 years) were enrolled from 1 September 2020 to 30 June 2021. Peripapillary vessel density (pVD) was examined based on the area of vessels by means of a 4.5 mm OCTA scan. In addition, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness was obtained from structural optical coherence tomography (OCT), as was the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). RESULTS: A total of 29 eyes from 28 cases with NA-AION and 99 healthy eyes from 68 participants were imaged. All participants were Chinese. The NA-AION group showed a significant reduction of the pVD (P0.05). The pVD of the optic disc in the superior temporal (ST) region showed better diagnostic accuracy (AUC =0.86) in discriminating the NA-AION group from healthy controls. After adjusting for confounders, ST was independently associated with the presence of NA-AION [odds ratio (OR) =0.971, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.943–0.990, P=0.048]. CONCLUSIONS: Decreased pVD was detected by non-invasive measurements of OCTA in the eyes of NA-AION patients. This finding may reveal an association between the ST region and the presence of NA-AION. The pVD may have potential diagnostic ability and may serve as an additional biomarker in the management of the disease.

The complex drug delivery barrier in the eye reduces the bioavailability of many drugs, resulting in poor therapeutic effects. It is necessary to investigate new drugs through appropriate delivery routes and vehicles. Nanotechnology has utilized various nano-carriers to develop potential ocular drug delivery techniques that interact with the ocular mucosa, prolong the retention time of drugs in the eye, and increase permeability. Additionally, nano-carriers such as liposomes, nanoparticles, nano-suspensions, nano-micelles, and nano-emulsions have grown in popularity as an effective theranostic application to combat different microbial superbugs. In this review, we summarize the nano-carrier based drug delivery system developments over the last decade, particularly review the biology, methodology, approaches, and clinical applications of nano-carrier based drug delivery system in the field of ocular therapeutics. Furthermore, this review addresses upcoming challenges, and provides an outlook on potential future trends of nano-carrier-based drug delivery approaches in ophthalmology, and hopes to eventually provide successful applications for treating ocular diseases.

To compare the inter-device agreement of anterior eye segment measurements between LenStar LS 900 optical biometer and OPD Scan III wavefront aberrometer.This is a retrospective study involving 59 patients (78 eyes) with cataract. Their angle Alpha, angle Kappa, pupil size and white-to-white (WTW) distance were measured by LenStar LS 900 optical biometer and OPD Scan III wavefront aberrometer, respectively, and pairwise agreement comparisons were performed between them.The most agreement of various parameters was occurred, with intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of WTW = 0.930; angle Alpha = 0.853; angle Kappa = 0.898; and pupil size = 0,976 in bright environment. Furthermore, in dark environment, the ICC of WTW, angle Alpha, angle Kappa, and pupil size were 0.927, 0.791, 0.915, and 0.990, respectively. Bland-Altman plot showed similar excellent agreement in the outcomes of the two devices for these measurements testing.There was an excellent agreement between the LenStar LS 900 optical biometer and OPD Scan III wavefront aberrometer for WTW, angle Alpha, angle Kappa, and pupil size measurements. In clinical practice, these measurements obtained by LenStar LS 900 optical biometer and OPD Scan III wavefront aberrometer can be used interchangeably.

N-Methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) are glutamate-gated Na+ and Ca2+-permeable ion channels involved in excitatory synaptic transmission and synaptic plasticity. NMDAR hypofunction has long been implicated in the pathophysiology including major depressive disorders (MDDs). Herein, we report a series of furan-2-carboxamide analogues as novel NMDAR-positive allosteric modulators (PAMs). Through structure-based virtual screen and electrophysiological tests, FS2921 was identified as a novel NMDAR PAM with potential antidepressant effects. Further structure-activity relationship studies led to the discovery of novel analogues with increased potentiation. Compound 32h caused a significant increase in NMDAR excitability in vitro and impressive activity in the forced swimming test. Moreover, compound 32h showed no significant inhibition of hERG or cell viability and possessed a favorable PK/PD profile. Our study presented a series of novel NMDAR PAMs and provided potential opportunities for discovering of new antidepressants.

Xiaoyan Bian,1,* Yuxia Guo,2,* Shixuan Guo,3,* Song Zhang,4,* Guisen Zhang,3 Lei Liu,4 Yajun Yang,5 Jun Liu6 1Department of Ocular Surface, Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, 014060, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Cataract Surgery, Ninghai Eye Hospital, Ningbo, 315615, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Retina, Hohhot Chaoju Eye Hospital, Hohhot, 010050, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Cataract, Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, 014060, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Ophthalmology, Changzhi People’s Hospital, Changzhi, 046000, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yajun YangDepartment of Cataract, Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, 014060, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail yangyajun@chaojueye.comJun LiuDepartment of Ophthalmology, Changzhi People’s Hospital, Changzhi, 046000, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail yuanliu97@sina.comAim: To investigate the relationships between property of the visual quality, Strehl ratio (SR) and the degree of myopia.Methods: A total of 444 anatomically normal eyes of 222 adolescents were enrolled in the TYPE study. Based on spherical equivalent (SE), subjects were divided into four groups: emmetropia/control (SE: +0.75 to − 0.75 D), low myopia (SE: − 0.75 to − 3.00D), moderate myopia (SE: − 3.00 to − 5.00D), high myopia (SE

Yajun Yang,1,* Guisen Zhang,2,* Song Zhang,3,* Xiaoyan Bian,1 Lao Qi,2 Shixuan Guo,2 Bozhou Zhang,1 Lei Liu4 1Cataract Department, Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, 014060, People’s Republic of China; 2Retina Department, Hohhot Chaoju Eye Hospital, Hohhot, 010050, People’s Republic of China; 3Cataract Department, China Medical University, Shenyang, 110122, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Bozhou ZhangBaotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 014060, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail zhangbozhou@chaojueye.cnLei LiuThe First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning, 110001, People’s Republic of ChinaEmail liuleijiao@163.comAim: To use OCTA to collect normative data describing the vascular perfusion of the macula and optic disc in adolescents.Methods: This cross-sectional, school-based study was conducted from Oct 15, 2019, to Nov 30, 2019, in Tuyou County, Baotou, China. All eligible participants underwent a comprehensive questionnaire and ocular examination. The vascular perfusion of the macula and optic disc was determined using a spectral-domain OCTA device.Results: A total of 570 anatomically normal eyes without a history of pathologic disease from 570 adolescents (mean ± SD age, 15.1 ± 1.9 years; 298 girls [52.3%]) were enrolled. In the macula, the mean ± SD perifoveal perfusion density (PD) of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) was 44.2% ± 4.37% and 50.74% ± 3.98%, respectively. The mean ± SD foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was 0.32 mm2 ± 0.11 mm2. The mean ± SD peripapillary vessel density (PVD) was 54.98% ± 3.53%. The inferior hemiretinal SCP-PD, DCP-PD, FAZ, and PVD was larger in girls than boys (P = 0.006, P = 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.006, respectively) Multiple regression analysis confirmed that sex independently affected the DCP-PD, FAZ, and PVD (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P = 0.029, respectively) and that axial length (AL) independently affected the FAZ area and PVD (P = 0.004 and P < 0.001, respectively).Conclusion: Quantitative studies of the perifoveal vasculature in adolescents should consider the patient’s sex and AL. Our findings may provide useful information for the understanding and the management of retinal perfusion in Chinese adolescents.Keywords: macula, optic disc, optical coherence tomography angiography, retinal perfusion

In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel series of multi-receptor ligands as polypharmacological antipsychotic agents by using a multi-receptor affinity strategy. Among them, 3w combines a multi-receptor mechanism with high mixed affinities for D2, 5-HT1A, 5-HT2A and H3 receptors, and low efficacy at the off-target receptors (5-HT2C, H1 and α1 receptor) and human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) channel. In addition, compound 3w exhibits favorable antipsychotic drug-like activities in in vivo assessment. An animal behavioral study revealed that compound 3w significantly reverses apomorphine-induced climbing and MK-801-induced hyperactivity, and avoidance behavior in the CAR test, with a high threshold for catalepsy. Moreover, compound 3w demonstrates memory enhancement in a novel object recognition task and low liabilities for weight gain and hyperprolactinemia in a long-term metabolic adverse effects model. Thus, 3w was selected as an antipsychotic candidate for further development.

Oxycodone is one of the most prescribed narcotic medications for the treatment of moderate to severe pain in clinical practice. During long-term stability studies of oxycodone hydrochloride for injection performed as per ICH Q1A (R2) guidelines, an unknown degradation product, impurity-I, increased over time and reached a level of 0.21% after 24 months, based on the results of HPLC analysis. The observed impurity was preliminarily characterized as an oxycodone aldol dimer by using two-dimensional (2D) liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (QTOF MS/MS) analysis. Impurity-I was synthesized and its molecular structure confirmed based on detailed analysis of 1D-NMR (1H, 13C, and DEPT) and 2D-NMR (1H–1H COSY, HSQC, and HMBC) spectroscopy data. The plausible mechanism for the formation of impurity-I was an aldol condensation reaction under weakly acidic conditions. In addition, the potential toxicity of impurity-I was assessed by in silico toxicity predictions using the TOPKAT software.

Different solid forms possess various physicochemical properties, which can significantly affect the stability, bioavailability, and manufacturability of the final product. DP-VPA, a complex of 1-stearoyl-2-valproyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DP-VPA-C18) and 1-palmitoyl-2-valproyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DP-VPA-C16), is currently under development as an antiepileptic drug. DP-VPA-C16 and DP-VPA-C18 crystallize together in solid solution forms. The solid forms of DP-VPA solid solution were studied herein. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) and optical microscopy were used to characterize the different crystalline forms, known as polymorphs. The physicochemical properties, including hygroscopicity, thermodynamic behavior, and relative stability, of each form were investigated. DVS analysis showed that DP-VPA solid solution reduced the hygroscopicity of DP-VPA-C16. The relative humidity stability study revealed that Forms A and B are relatively stable, while Forms A-1, B-1, C and D are highly unstable under natural humidity. Further analysis revealed that Form A transforms into Form B through milling. Given the physicochemical properties of the available physical forms, Form B may be the optimal form for the formulation and development of antiepileptic drugs.

To develop safer and potent analgesics, we designed, synthesized, and evaluated a new series of benzylaminofentanyl derivates as bifunctional μ opioid receptor (MOR) and σ

Yufang Su,1,&ast; Gang Bai,2,&ast; Hong Tian,3,&ast; Song Zhang,4 Yingru Liu,1 Guisen Zhang,2 Lei Liu,5 Kang Chen6 1Department of Glaucoma, Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Glaucoma, Hohhot Chaoju Eye Hospital, Hohhot, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Cataract, Baotou Kunlun Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Graduate School, China Medical University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China; 5Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 6Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, People’s Republic of China&ast;These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lei Liu; Kang Chen, Tel +86 13889378662 ; +86 13804999194, Email liuleijiao@163.com; akanger@sina.comPurpose: To evaluate visual-related quality of life (VR-QoL) and its association with optic nerve head microvasculature in individuals with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) evaluated at the acute stage.Methods: In this retrospective case-control study, 23 NAION eyes at the acute stage and 25 age and gender matched healthy eyes were included, respectively. All included eyes underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA). The Chinese version of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire-25 (CHI-NEI-VFQ-25) was applied to assess VR-QoL in individuals consecutively visited at an ophthalmic center. Descriptive and analytic statistics were employed.Results: There were no significant differences on age, gender, socioeconomic and education level (P > 0.05), but best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) differences were reported between cases and controls (P < 0.05). Each peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness was higher but peripapillary vessel density (VD) and VR-QoL scores for all subscales were significantly lower in cases when compared with controls, respectively (P < 0.05). Particularly, pearson’s partial correlation analysis restricted to eyes with NAION revealed stronger correlations between peripapillary RNFL measurements, VD and VR-QoL.Conclusion: NAION at the acute stage affects VR-QoL in Chinese individuals. Some peripapillary RNFL measurements and VD correlated with VR-QoL. Retinal anatomic and blood flow examinations and inventions in patients with NAION are necessary to facilitate VR-QoL and disease control.Keywords: nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, CHI-NEI-VFQ-25, OCTA, OCT, quality of life

Purpose: Dry eye disease (DED) is projected to have increasing public health burden in China with the aging population. No published studies on the epidemiology of DED have been found in grasslands. We estimated DED prevalence among older adults living in grasslands of northern China and investigated its associated factors and impact on vision-related quality of life (VR-QoL).Methods: A multistage cluster random sampling technique was used to select Mongolian and Han participants aged over 40 from November 2020 to May 2021 in this area. An assessment of DED was performed with Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire, Schirmer's I test (ST), and Tear film break up time (TBUT). All the participants completed the Chinese version of National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25) assessing VR-QoL.Results: Of the 1,400 enumerated residents, 1,287 were examined. The overall age and gender standardized prevalence of DED was 34.5%, of which, 32.6% of Mongolian and 35.4% of Han had DED. In a multivariate model, statistically significant associations were found with advancing age [odds ratio (OR) 1.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02–1.04], female gender (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.04–1.68), smoking (OR 0.7, 95% CI 0.5–0.98), anti-fatigue eye-drop use (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.41–0.77), milk product intake (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.39–0.77), number of household members (OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.72–0.88). DED was associated with lower scores on VR-QoL (β= −0.14, P < 0.01). Similar results were observed when analyses were stratified by ethnicity.Conclusions: The novelty-associated factors for DED in the grasslands area were anti-fatigue eye drop use, milk product intake, and number of household members. DED and its components were associated with VR-QoL. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effects of 0.01% atropine eye drops on accommodative system parameters among teenagers with low myopia.Methods: Ninety-five myopic teenagers [39 boys (8.69 ± 2.473) and 56 girls (8.54 ± 2.054) aged 5–17 years] with no history of eye disease were enrolled. Biometric and accommodative system parameters were evaluated before and at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months of 0.01% atropine eye drop instillation.Results: Participants without accommodative demand at 6 months demonstrated insignificant changes after the atropine instillation (all p > 0.05). Nevertheless, there were significant differences in accommodative sensitivity, accommodative amplitude, accommodative responsiveness, and negative relative accommodation (NRA) at 3 months compared with baseline after atropine instillation (all p < 0.05). Except spherical equivalent refraction, cornea thickness, intraocular pressure, and axial length were stable after the 0.01% atropine instillation (all p > 0.05).Conclusion: Morphologically, current measurements suggested that 0.01% atropine had favorable reduction of accommodation for childhood low myopia over a half-year period.

Here, we describe the optimization, synthesis, and associated pharmacological analgesic activities of a new series of bifunctional piperidinamide derivatives as sigma-1 receptor (σ

Opioid analgesics are efficacious painkillers for treating moderate to severe acute pain, but their long-term use in chronic pain has met with increasing scrutiny due to various on-target detrimental adverse effects, including the development of tolerance, physical or psychological dependence, constipation, and life-threatening respiratory arrest (1, 2). The “holy grail” of analgesic research is to design a powerful analgesic drug with reduced side effects (3). Recently, Kandasamy … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: gszhang{at}mail.hust.edu.cn. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Background Monitoring and prediction of diabetic retinopathy (DR) is necessary in patients with diabetes for early discovery and timely treatment of disease. We aimed to analyze the association between DR and biochemical and metabolic parameters, and develop a predictive model for DR. Methods A total of 530 Chinese residents including 423 with type 2 diabetes (T2D) aged 18 years or older participated in this study. The association between DR and biochemical and metabolic parameters was analyzed by the univariate and multivariable logistic regression (MLR). According to the MLR results, we developed a back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) model by selecting tan-sigmoid as the transfer function of the hidden layers nodes, and pure-line of the output layer nodes, with training goal of 0.5×10-5. Results There were 51 (9.6%) diabetic participants with DR. After univariate and MLR analysis, duration of diabetes, waist to hip ratio, HbA1c and family history of diabetes were independently associated with the presence of DR (all P < 0.05). Based on these parameters, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the BP-ANN model was significantly higher than that by MLR (0.84 vs. 0.77, P < 0.001). Conclusion Our evaluation demonstrated the potential role of BP-ANN model to identify DR in screening practice. The presence of DR was well predictable using the proposed BP-ANN model based on four related parameters (duration of diabetes, waist to hip ratio, HbA1c and family history of diabetes).

Haploinsufficiency of the protein kinase Tbk1 has shown to cause both amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD); however, the pathogenic mechanisms are unclear. Here we show that conditional neuronal deletion of Tbk1 in leads to cognitive and locomotor deficits in mice. Tbk1-NKO mice exhibited numerous neuropathological changes, including neurofibrillary tangles, abnormal dendrites, reduced dendritic spine density, and cortical synapse loss. The Purkinje cell layer of the cerebellum presented dendritic swelling, abnormally shaped astrocytes, and p62- and ubiquitin-positive aggregates, suggesting impaired autophagy. Inhibition of autophagic flux with bafilomycin A increased total Tkb1 levels in motor neuron-like cells in vitro, suggesting autophagy-dependent degradation of Tbk1. Although Tbk1 over-expression did not affect mutant SOD1 levels in SOD1G93A-transfected cells, it increased the soluble/insoluble ratio and reduced the number and size of SOD1G93A aggregates. Finally, in vivo experiments showed that Tkb1 expression was reduced in SOD1G93A ALS transgenic mice, which showed decreased p62 protein aggregation and extended survival after ICV injection of adeno-associated viral vectors encoding Tbk1. These data shed light on the neuropathological changes that result from Tbk1 deficiency and hint at impaired autophagy as a contributing factor to the cognitive and locomotor deficits that characterize FTD-ALS in patients with Tkb1 haploinsufficiency.

Purpose: Abnormal levels of lipid accumulation product (LAP) have been associated with risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, it is not clear whether LAP index is associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR). We investigated the association between LAP index and DR in Chinese adults with diabetes. Patients and methods: We included 427 Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes aged 18-year over who participated in a community-based cross-sectional study in Shenyang. DR was addressed on retinal photographs graded using the modified Airlie House classification. LAP was defined as (waist circumference [cm]-65) × (triglycerides [mmol/L]) in men, and (waist circumference [cm]-58) × (triglycerides [mmol/L]) in women and analyzed continuously (per SD change) and categorically (quartile 1, 50). Results: Prevalence of DR among the study population was 17.8%. The mean level of LAP was 52.96±44.01. Compared to quartile 1 level, both quartile 2 and 3 levels were associated with DR with multivariable odds ratio (95% CI) of 0.23 (0.12-0.46) and 0.27 (0.14-0.54), respectively. These associations persisted when LAP was analyzed continuously (0.57 [0.35-0.92]). Conclusion: Higher central lipid accumulation in Chinese diabetics is related to the lower risk of DR, suggesting that LAP may be useful for identifying type 2 diabetes mellitus patients who are at risk for DR.

Introduction The relationship of total cholesterol (TC) or triglyceride (TG) to diabetic retinopathy (DR) has proven difficult to determine. In addition, there is no report of any study of the correlation between the TC/TG ratio and DR. This study was therefore undertaken to investigate the relationship between the TC/TG ratio and DR in Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods A community-based study was conducted from August to October 2014 in Fengyutan, Shenyang, China. DR was assessed based on the modified Airlie House classification of DR. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between the TC/TG ratio and the presence of DR. Results Among the 420 diabetic participants in the study (157 men; mean (SD) age 61.7 (10.0) years), 76 (18.1%) presented with DR. When the TC/TG ratio was analyzed categorically, participants with T2DM in tertile 2 (i.e., TC/TG 2.91–4.00) were more likely (OR 2.01; 95% CI 1.01–3.99) to suffer from DR than patients in tertile 1 (i.e., TC/TG 4.00) were more likely (OR 2.59; 95% CI 1.11–3.14; P = 0.011) to suffer from DR than patients in tertile 1. This association persisted when the TC/TG ratio was analyzed continuously (P = 0.014). Conclusion We found a novel positive association between TC/TG ratio and presence of DR in Chinese individuals with T2DM. Although longitudinal data are needed, this finding contributes to the accumulating evidence that a high TC/TG ratio may be implicated in DR.

EDITOR: Myopia is a common ocular disorder, with around 2.5 billion myopic people around the world. The World Health Organization estimates that half of the population of the world may be myopic by...

Opioid analgesics are highly effective painkillers for the treatment of moderate or severe pain, but they are associated with a number of undesirable adverse effects, including the development of tolerance, addiction, constipation and life-threatening respiratory depression. The development of new and safer analgesics with innovative mechanisms of action, which can enhance the efficacy in comparison to available treatments and reduce their side effects, is urgently needed. The sigma-1 receptor (σ