Cataract Pilot Study NASA-NEI Clinical DLS Device

新的动态光散射(DLS)临床设备是根据NASA-NEI机构间协议最近开发的，已被发现是安全的，可重复使用，并对用于早期白内障形成的研究敏感。它可以在体内、无创地检测白内障患者最早的分子变化。 在这项初步研究中，我们将使用这一新设备在分子水平上研究老年前期白内障患者白内障形成的最早变化。这些白内障发生在55岁以下的患者(因此称为老年前期)，而且这些白内障在第一只眼睛就发展得很快，需要在一到两年内进行手术。在大多数情况下，另一只眼睛在第一只眼睛之后会出现类似的白内障，因此可以使用这种设备进行早期研究。这项研究有望在分子水平上阐明这种类型的白内障在白内障形成的早期阶段发生了什么，并帮助我们跟踪最初变化后发生的一系列事件。这些信息将有助于寻找人类白内障的原因，并可能导致抗白内障药物的开发，这些药物可能通过医学/非手术手段预防、延缓或逆转白内障。初步数据显示，即使在临床未受累的对侧眼睛中，也可以检测到晶状体蛋白的早期变化。因此，我们正在继续跟踪这些患者。 这种类型的研究在过去是不可能的，因为还没有开发出临床设备来安全、可重复性和非侵入性地在活体内研究晶状体的分子变化，使用晶状体在原位，而不是将晶状体带出眼睛。

The new Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) Clinical device has recently been developed under the NASA-NEI Inter-Agency Agreement, and has been found to be safe, reproducible and sensitive to use in studies of early cataract formation. It can detect the earliest molecular changes in cataracts in patients in vivo, non-invasively. In this pilot study, we will be using this new device to study the earliest changes in cataract formation, in the molecular level, in patients with Pre-Senile cataract. These cataracts develop in patients below the age of 55 years of age (hence "Pre-Senile"), and these cataracts develop rapidly in the first eye, requiring surgery within a year or two. The other eye in most cases develops a similar cataract after the first eye, and therefore can be studied early with this device. This study will hopefully help elucidate, in the molecular level, what happens in the earliest stages of cataract formation in this type of human cataract, and help us follow the cascade of events that occur after the initial changes. This information will be useful in finding the cause of human cataracts and may lead to development of anti-cataract medications, that may prevent, delay or reverse cataracts medically/ non-surgically. Preliminary data shows that early changes in lens proteins can be detected even in the clinically uninvolved contralateral eye. We are therefore continuing to follow these patients. This type of study has not been possible in the past because no clinical device has been developed to study molecular changes in the lens safely, reproducibly and non-invasively in vivo, with the lens in-situ, without taking the lens outside of the eye.