Research notes

Advances in treating lazy eye

A recently published study found that daily painless eye drops of the compound atropine were as effective as an eye patch in treating lazy eye in children.

Wearing an eye patch over a healthy eye to make the “lazy eye” work harder is the traditional treatment for this condition, called amblyopia. In the study, drops were used to blur an unaffected eye, which also challenged the lazy eye to work harder. In addition, the researchers found that parents generally preferred the eye drops for their children. And, unlike an eye patch, drops will probably solicit fewer taunts from other children compared to a patch, the researchers surmised.

Lazy eye is the most common cause of visual loss in children and young adults.

The study involved investigators from Mexico, Canada and the United States, including David Robbins Tien, M.D., and Glenn E. Bulan, M.D., both clinical assistant professors of surgery; and David A. Young, M.D., house staff officer, surgery. The study appeared in the March issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. – Scott J. Turner

Researcher pursues better drug targets

On April 21, Elaine Bearer organized and co-chaired a symposium at this year's meeting of the American Society of Investigative Pathology.

The program, titled "Hot topics in microbial pathogenesis," examined five cutting-edge approaches to how pathogens enter a cell and cause damage, as well as what science can do about it. The symposium included identifying better drug targets, even using microbes themselves as weapons. By injecting stripped virus into a squid, Bearer and colleagues were the first to reconstitute human herpes virus transport in vitro. Herpes virus enters the nerve ending in the mucous membrane of the lip or eye and travels inside the nerve back toward the neuronal cell nucleus in the central nervous system. 

The work provided evidence that a single transport mechanism was responsible for this movement.

During the April 21 symposium, Bearer presented new findings that suggest she and colleagues are "coming close to identifying the precise piece of the virus that lets it travel." Once these transport codes are found, it will be relatively easy to develop drugs to halt the various herpes viruses in their tracks, Bearer said. This could prevent any further symptoms, including cold sores, genital herpes lesions, and blindness or death of infants born to mothers with an active genital herpes infection, she said.

In the future, the herpes transporter mechanism will "be a good vehicle to carry desired genes to the cellular DNA in gene therapy," according to Bearer. "Understanding the traffic along neurons also may someday provide insight into the neuronal destruction of Alzheimer's," she said. Bearer is an associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine.

The April 21 symposium was co-chaired by Dr. Richard Lynch, M.D., University of Iowa College of Medicine. – Scott J. Turner