Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0022568 (keratitis)
 5,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cyclosporine (cyclosporin A, CsA) is a selective T-cell immunosuppressant that works primarily through inhibition of both antigen presentation and lymphokine production. It has dramatically improved the prognosis for solid organ transplantation. Significant nephrotoxicity has been associated with its systemic use. Topical CsA 2% was used in 11 high-risk corneal transplant patients (8 men; 3 women; average age, 44 years). Ten (91%) of 11 corneas remained clear at an average follow-up of 16 months (range, 6-24 months). All patients had transient epithelial keratitis. Systemic whole blood levels of CsA measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) ranged from 14 to 64 ng/ml. All previous reports on the use of topical CsA in high-risk corneal transplant patients have not detected systemic CsA levels.
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PMID:Topical cyclosporine in high-risk corneal transplants. 224 50

Inflammation often is accompanied by neovascularization. This is especially evident in the normally avascular cornea, where an angiogenic response occurs with keratitis or during graft rejection. In the current experiments, supernatants from cultured lymph node cell populations were incorporated in Elvax 40 slow-release polymers and implanted in the corneal stroma. Separation of whole lymph node cells into highly T-enriched and macrophage populations permitted investigation of soluble cell products responsible for angiogenesis. It was found that sepharose-linked concanavalin A was an adequate stimulus for the generation of angiogenic activity, as assessed in the rabbit corneal micropocket assay. Cytoadherence, nylon wool column cell separation, and mitomycin C treatment of individual populations were used to demonstrate that stimulated T cells are a source of angiogenic material. The time-course and magnitude of the angiogenic response were equivalent in normal and x-irradiated leukopenic animals. These observations demonstrate that a potent angiogenic lymphokine secreted by stimulated T cells is active in the corneal micropocket assay system.
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PMID:Angiogenic lymphokines of activated T-cell origin. 619 91