ARVO research round up

Orlando, FL-The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology held its annual conference in Orlando, FL, last week and Optometry Times’ sister publication, Ophthalmology Times, was there to catch up on the latest research on glaucoma, AMD, and other diseases.

Genes identify potential risk for AMD

Carl C. Awh, MD, says patients with 2 CFH and no ARMS2 risk alleles would not benefit from taking the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) formulation.

According to Ophthalmology Times, Dr. Awh “observed outcomes of patients followed in the study to support published findings that show response to components of the AREDS formulation is influenced by CFH and ARMS2 alleles.”

The analysis of patients based on certain genotype groups showed statistically significant differences and responses to treatment. 

IOP found to spike more often than previously thought

A study of rhesus monkeys that recorded 500 intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements per second for up to 2.5 years found that a typical eye experiences 12,000 IOP spikes per hour while awake, and 3,000 spikes per hour while sleeping.

J. Crawford Downs, PhD, says that some spikes were only 1-2 mm Hg, while others were as much as 5 mm Hg, according to Ophthalmology Times.

The study evaluated “continuous bilateral IOP, bilateral electro-oculogram, and aortic blood pressure for twelve 24-hour periods in a 14-day span in three young adult male rhesus macaques (NHP) aged 3 to 6 years old. The IOP transducers were calibrated directly via anterior chamber manometry, and IOP data were corrected for signal drift.”

Study finds predictors for the number of AMD injections

Daniel F. Marin, MD, says that participants of the Comparison of AMD Treatments Trials (CATT) that were associated with: retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) lesions, treatment with ranibizumab, the absence of subretinal fluid, and the absence of subretinal pigment epithelium fluid (RPE) required fewer injections for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.