Inflammation seems to be at the root of many disease processes and will likely influence future treatments for a range of conditions. Such has been the focus of many recent publications.
Only last weekend, the Sunday papers featured the thoughts of a leading psychiatrist who has found evidence that inflammation is contributory to much depressive illness.
The important role of inflammatory cascades in the assessment and management of dry eye disease is similarly a hot topic and its importance is recognised in the latest definition of the condition that came from TFOS last year. An improved understanding of the role of inflammation in the presentation of dry eye would lead to major breakthroughs in treatment rather than symptom alleviation.
Professor John Flanagan’s team in the US are making interesting advances in our understanding of glaucoma. It appears that ganglion cells are surrounded by astrocytes that, in the healthy eye, secrete lipoxin, a component of the omega-6 pathway (as are prostaglandins, already used in glaucoma treatment).
Damage to these astrocytes, perhaps by mechanical or vascular insult, interfere with secretion of this protective chemical and precedes ganglion cell death. Further understanding of this process may lead to actual glaucoma treatments.
And on a different matter, I heard over the weekend a radio programme discussing colour vision. Of particular interest was the conviction among some scientists that some women may have multiple gene expression on both of their X chromosomes giving them a fourth colour receptor function, so-called tetrachromaticity.
Just as I was wondering what the estimable Professor Bob Fletcher might have made of this, I had a message from a former student of Bob’s saying that he has now moved into a care home. He would be so very pleased to hear from ex-students if any would like to drop an e-mail, maybe with a photo and news, to him via his daughter, vokejanet11@gmail.comgmail.com, who would pass it on to him.